All of the Above
by silent-five
Summary: Troy finds himself suddenly interested in the school’s smartest student when he sees her outside the classroom. TROYELLA
1. I Am

**TITLE:** All of the Above (Chapter One: I Am)

**AUTHOR:** Jessa

**RATING/GENRE:** PG-13 for now/Romance & A/U

**FANDOM/PAIRING:** High School Musical /Troy & Gabriella (some Gabriella & OC)

**SUMMARY:** Troy finds himself suddenly interested in the school's smartest student when he sees her outside the classroom. (TROYELLA)

**DISCLAIMER:** High School Musical, all its characters and settings belong to Disney. I claim no ownership over them, I just like to pretend. Claire Littleton is a character from ABC's LOST and Mandy Moore is a real person who doesn't belong to me either.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Sorry it's taking me so long to update my Troyella sexiness known as "Insatiable". I've hit writer's block but I promise I'll have it up soooooon!

Btw, the Bronze is a club stolen from the amazing TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". The song sung by Neon Gems in this chapter is "I Am" by Killing Heidi. I recommend a download if you get the chance. Also, may I just randomly throw out that the Troypay pairing makes me gag? It's stupid since he clearly hates her in the movie and they barely interact. Laaaame. Anyways, onto the fic!

* * *

Troy couldn't believe he'd agreed to go to some stuffy, over-crowded night club with his brother and three of his brother's friends. It was in the next town over from their hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Luckily for the boys it was an all ages club called The Bronze so they had no worries about being IDed. Even Troy's brother, James, and his friends were only eighteen and consequently still underage. Troy had just turned seventeen but he and James were extremely close, practically like twins, so he was welcomed into the group. He was kind of regretting accompanying them on this particular outing. Troy wasn't much of a partier. 

The sign outside the club had advertised a live all girl band by the name of "Neon Gems". Apparently the girls were super hot and played fairly decent music. James' best friend Dean had seen them at a couple of other clubs and got an odd dazed look whenever he talked about them. Sometimes there were even hints of drool.

When they passed through the huge metal door of the club, the band had not made their appearance yet. Music from a CD was pouring from the speakers, working the dance floor into a frenzy. The boys weren't much for dancing; they were mainly about the hot rocker chicks, so they rushed to grab a recently vacated table near the back of the club.

A cheer erupted from the crowd when three girls in their late teens burst out onto the stage, one after the other. Judging from the level of noise the audience achieved, the Neon Gems seemed to have a pretty large fan base.

A very petite girl with a mess of long blond hair settled herself behind the drums near the back of the stage, twirling her sticks in the air. Her face was angelically magnificent, her lips set into an adorable smile. A second girl who scooped up the red bass waiting for her was close to six feet tall with long arms and legs and a whole lot of energy. Her hair was dark brown and cut into shaggy layers around her shoulders. Her choppy bangs hung in front of her eyes as she took her position on the left side of the stage. Both girls were decked out in punkish fashions, including thick black eyeliner and wristbands that went halfway up their arms.

The blond drummer seemed to have a bit more of an earthy style as she contrasted hardcore with a fawn colored camisole, black skinny trousers and straw flip-flops. The bassist had more of a fun Technicolor edge. She was clad in a hot pink sundress with an empire waist and black army boots that reached mid-calf.

The third and final member of the band stepped up to the mic at center stage after strapping on her bright blue electric guitar and Troy did a double take. This girl was truly beautiful. Her skin was a deep gold due to her presumably Spanish heritage. She had wavy black hair that almost reached her elbows and wide eyes that Troy could inexplicably recall as a sparkling brown. She glowed in her simple attire – a white wifebeater and distressed skinny jeans that had wide rips in the knee. Her choice of jewelry was limited to a silver heart on a thin chain around her neck. Her feet were cradled in silver flats and her make-up, just like her band members, consisted of black eyeliner and nothing else. Troy could have sworn he'd seen the girl someplace else but couldn't quite remember where. He found it impossible that he'd forget anything about such a gorgeous girl.

He watched her intently as she strummed a single chord on her guitar and swept her eyes over the crowd.

"Hey everyone!" she said into the mic. Troy recognized her sweet voice… somehow. "I'm CJ. To my right is Mandy on the bass and the cute blond in the back is Claire. We're the Neon Gems." She paused for thunderous applause, her head bowed modestly.

_CJ? CJ… Nope, doesn't sound familiar_, Troy thought.

"Our first song is called 'I Am'. Hope you enjoy the show!"

CJ nodded to Claire and Mandy, signaling the start of the song.

An easy guitar intro lead into a flowing melody from the trio and then CJ opened her mouth to sing.

_I know, I know, I know what you'd say, yeah_

_And I know, I know, I know all the games you play_

_I am, I am, I am not afraid, yeah_

_'Cause I know, I know, I know what to say_

_I feel it, it's coming_

_It's here if you want it_

_And I am out on my own_

_Moving in shadow, nobody knows who I am_

_Standing alone and it's me but you can't see who I am_

CJ glowered over the top of the mic, such passion going into her singing. Her voice ripped right through Troy. It was as if she were using her music to transfer all her feelings into him.

_I'd like to rip you out of your skin_

_I'd switch us around and put you back in_

_And I know, I know, I know what to say_

_But it couldn't be any other way_

_Guess I feel it, it's coming_

_It's here if you want it_

_And I am out on my own_

_Moving in shadow, nobody knows who I am_

_Standing alone and it's me but you can't see who I am_

_I am out on my own, moving in shadow, nobody knows who i am  
Standing alone, and it's me but you can't see who I am_

Troy was transfixed solely on CJ. He shivered slightly when her voice dropped to a rough whisper for the bridge.

_So close but you don't know, and it's me but you can't see,  
So close but you don't know, and it's me but you can't see,  
So close but you don't know, and it's me but you can't see,  
So close but you don't know, and it's me but you can't see,_

_So close but you don't know, it's me but you can't see,  
So close but you don't know, it's me but you can't see,_

_I feel it, it's coming, it's here if you want it,_

_I am out on my own, moving in shadow,  
nobody knows who I am,  
standing alone, and it's me, but you can't see who I am._

The volume and effort behind her words picked up again and she began slamming on the strings of her guitar, lost in the music she and her friends were making. Her head banged in time with the beat, tossing her long hair about her face. It gave her an endearingly undone look that Troy was finding more and more attractive by the second.

_So close but you don't know,  
and it's me, but you're never gonna see who I am,  
so close but you don't know,  
and it's me, but you just can't see who I am._

When the last strains of the songs faded away, the audience was completely responsive, clapping madly and demanding another song. Troy was probably clapping the loudest.

"I told you they were awesome," said Dean from the seat next to Troy. The entire table seemed to find Troy's captivation with the band amusing. Embarrassed by the attention, Troy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and returned his gaze to the stage. His eyes were immediately drawn back to CJ. Why was she so damn familiar!?

* * *

_TO BE CONTINUED..._

* * *


	2. On My Mind

**TITLE:** All of the Above (Part II)

**AUTHOR:** Jessa

**RATING / GENRE:** PG / Romance, Drama

**FANDOM / PAIRING:** High School Musical / Troy and Gabriella

**SUMMARY:** Troy suddenly starts showing interest in a fellow Wildcat when he sees her out side the classroom.

**DISCLAIMER:** Troy, Gabriella and anything else East Highish is (c) Disney.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Sorry I took so long to get this up. I was just trying to suss out all the details involving the pace I want this fic to take. The next part will hopefully take less time and be a bit lengthier (I know this one is like three seconds long!).

* * *

Troy walked into school on Monday morning like a zombie. He had barely gotten a wink of sleep the previous night, on account of the fact that his mind refused to shut down. This CJ girl he'd seen perform on Friday night was permanently fused to his thought patterns, rising to the surface whenever he sat still for even a second. No girl had ever spun his like this before. 

And he still couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen her somewhere.

All of his friends seemed more animated and excitable than ever and he really tried hard to keep up with them but exhaustion was taking a serious toll. The only one who showed an inkling that they noticed his lack of enthusiasm was his best friend, Chad. However, even that bit of concern didn't extend past asking if he was okay. When he replied with a monotone 'Fine.", Chad dropped the issue.

He dragged himself from class to class, certain that he hadn't absorbed one piece of new information the entire day. Lunch passed in a blur of untouched cafeteria food and meaningless conversation which Troy barely participated in.

By the time the first period after lunch had rolled around, Troy found himself wishing with everything he was that he had refused to go to the Bronze that night. It couldn't be healthy to think about a girl he'd never even talked to so much.

Running late for class, he trudged around a corner and suddenly felt himself being pushed backward by someone much shorter than he. The force he'd been using to walk forward pushed back on the other person twice as hard and they sprawled to the floor in front of him. The stack of books and papers they'd been carrying spilled everywhere.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" Troy exclaimed, kneeling to help them pick everything up. He inwardly cursed himself for not watching where he was going. It wasn't long before all their belonging were back in a neat pile and they scooped them up. Troy was about to stand as well when something sparkly caught his eye. Lying a few inches from his hand was a silver guitar pick. He snatched it up and extended his body to it's full height.

"Here," he said, holding the pick out to them. That's when he saw their face for the first time. "CJ?" he blurted out, dumbfounded. Had he really found her?

Panic flitted across the girl's gorgeous face, the face he was certain had captivated him from the stage of the Bronze on Friday night, before she could control it. A few seconds later, her expression was blank again. The pick quickly dissapeared from Troy's grasp.

"Sorry about that," she murmured, referring to their collision.

Troy waved it off, gazing at her intently. "That's okay. Is your name CJ?" he questioned again.

The girl seemed uncomfortable with his inquiry but tried to conceal it with a smile.

"No, I'm Gabriella. Gabriella Montez," she said. Troy dimly recalled the name being called during attendance in the mornings but had never really paid attention to the person it belonged to. Gabriella understood right away that he didn't know who she was but it didn't appear to bother her. It was almost as if she'd expected as much. "I'm in your homeroom," she offered.

"You know who I am?" he asked. Gabriella flung him a look that said 'are you serious?'.

"Everyone knows who you are," she replied. "The infamous Troy Bolton."

Troy blushed deeply. The fact that she knew exactly who he was when her name made him draw a big fat blank made him feel very embarassed and somehow supremely self-centered.

"See you around, Troy Bolton. I'll try not to crash into you next time," she said without giving him a chance to respond.

"See you," Troy replied, but she was already gone.

* * *

Gabriella ducked quickly into the Ladies' Room on the way to class. She checked the stalls for feet and found none. Feeling the way was clear, she gave into her nerves. Exhaling heavily, she leaned against the wall and slid down into a sitting position. 

_That was close_, she thought.

Of all the people that could have seen her, why did it have to be Troy Bolton? He was the King of East High. He shouldn't be giving the time of day to girls like her; that's just how it worked. Of course he'd only notice her if she was singing her heart out on stage.

Truth be told, Gabriella had always thought Troy was cute; you'd kind of need to be blind to think otherwise. But, hello! Lunkhead basketball captain! In either one of her personas -- geek by day, rocker by night -- that was a strict no-no. It was like some unwritten rule. He probably just thought she looked hot with a bit of eyeliner on and her hair down.

_What a typical __**boy**_, Gabriella told herself.

Pushing Troy Bolton out of her mind, she stood up, fixed her low ponytail and exited the bathroom. It was time for AP Chemistry, her favorite class.

* * *

Pre-practice stretching was not normally Troy's favorite part of basketball, mostly because Chad liked to use this time to chat about his latest date with some random cheerleader, but today he was grateful he had some time to talk to his best friend alone. 

"So, dude," he began, twirling a basketball nervously in his hands. "Have you ever heard of some chick named Gabriella?"

Chad extended his arm around his head and replied,"I know a lot of chicks, can you be more specific? Maybe a last name?"

"Montez. Gabriella Montez," Troy said, trying to sound as non-chalant as possible, even though just the sound of her name sent little tingles though him.

Chad pondered for a moment. "It's not ringing a bell..."

"Oh..."

Troy's face dropped in dissapointment. He was really curious about her now. What kind of high school student leads a double life like that? The girl had an alias for Christsakes. It was all very intriguing.

"Why do you ask?" Chad questioned, abandoning stretching in favor of concentrating fully on their conversation.

"No reason," Troy answered. "I just ran into her after lunch, that's all."

"Huh. You'd probably be better off asking a cheerleader. They make it their business to know everything about everyone," Chad offered.

"Yeah... probably," Troy replied.

"Then again, if you talk to one of them they'll probably think you're hitting on them and wet themselves or something," Chad said, smirking.

Troy pushed his shoulder playfully. "Shut up," he muttered.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	3. Run Away

**TITLE:** All of the Above (Chapter Three)

**AUTHOR:** Jessa

**RATING / GENRE:** K+ (for now) / Romance, Drama

**FANDOM / PAIRING:** High School Musical / Troy&Gabriella, Gabriella&OC

**SUMMARY:** Troy suddenly starts showing interest in a fellow Wildcat when he sees her outside the classroom.

**DISCLAIMER:** Troy, Gabriella and anything else East Highish is (c) Disney.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I dunno if it's confusing some people but yes, **CJ and Gabriella are the same person**. When the fic is in Troy's POV, he sometimes thinks of her as CJ because he's not positive it's Gabi right away. We all good?

* * *

Another Friday night gig at the Bronze, they were getting more and more frequent now. Gabriella was just hanging out with her band mates in the crowd before it was time for them to make their appearance onstage. She sipped her Coke and laughed with Mandy at Claire's antics. 

Claire stopped in mid-sentence and peered at something just over Gabriella's shoulder. "Don't look now," she whispered excitedly. "But Mitch Heron is headed this way!"

"Mitch Heron!?" Gabriella exclaimed.

"As in Mitch Heron, lead singer slash guitarist of Eclipse?" Mandy asked all in a rush.

"One and the same," Claire squealed.

Mitch Heron was practically a local sex symbol, local being in The Bronze. His band Eclipse was among one of the most requested, a list that the Neon Gems were getting closer and closer to being a part of. Mitch looked like a rock God, although he was only a year or two older than the Gems. He had black hair that he wore swept dramatically to the side, dark clothing and just a sexy hint of eyeliner. None of the girls really knew much about him but the mystery was a part of what made him so appealing.

Gabriella was about to turn her head so that she could catch a blissful eye-full of Mitch when she caught a glimpse of a familiar pair of blue eyes in amongst the crowd. Troy was several feet from her but, judging for the way he was looking around, he hadn't noticed her yet.

"Oh God," she said unconsciously and tried to hide her face behind her hand.

Claire and Mandy both tore their eyes away from Mitch to send strange looks her way.

"What is it, Gabs?" Claire asked.

Gabriella peeked at them through her fingers. "You see that guy over there?" She chanced a vague wave at Troy before returning her hand to her face.

"More details please? There are a lot of guys here," Mandy said.

"Really blue eyes, sandy brown hair, kinda sporty," Gabriella clarified in a hoarse whisper that barely carried above the music.

Claire and Mandy took a second to find him but when they did, Claire said, "He's cute... in a jock sort of way."

"What about him?" Mandy asked, still wondering why Gabriella was 'expertly' disguising her face.

"He goes to my school," Gabriella told them. "And I think he knows about the 'CJ' thing. He asked if that was my name the other day."

Claire patted her friend's shoulder. They'd known each other since junior high and even though Gabriella's mom had made her move around, they'd remained best friends since that time. She knew just how important it was for Gabriella to have her alias; it helped her deal with her stage fright. It was easier to perform when you were someone else.

"Honey," Mandy replied, coming to Gabriella's side and putting an arm around her shoulder. "Someone was bound to figure out it was you sooner or later. Who cares?"

"I care! What if he tells someone!?" Gabriella panicked.

"So? They'll finally realize how cool you really are," Claire said.

Gabriella whined helplessly. "But I don't want anyone to think about me at all! You know I hate attention like that."

"It comes with being lead singer of a band, I'm afraid," Mandy responded.

"I guess... Maybe he'll keep it to himself," Gabriella said hopefully, finally lowering her hand.

"Maybe," Claire replied.

Mandy checked her pink watch and used her grip on Gabriella's shoulder to ease her friend gently into a standing position. "Now, are you gals ready to rock it out?" she asked. "It's play time."

Gabriella swallowed nervously, suddenly feeling self-conscious about performing, something that had never happened before. "Let's go."

* * *

"I can't believe you wanted to come here two weekends in a row, dude," James Bolton said to his brother, shouting slightly to be heard above the music in the Bronze. 

Troy played dumb and said, "What? Why?"

James gave his brother a knowing look. "You're not exactly partier of the year."

"Ok, that's true," Troy consented before sipping on his Coke.

"So, are you going to let me in on why you dragged me here?" James asked.

Troy watched the bubbles in his cup pop for a moment as he thought of what to tell him. "I was just bored..." he said. James didn't buy it.

"You knew those Gem chicks were gonna be here again, didn't you?" he said with a smirk on his face.

Troy flushed pink. "No."

"Bull."

Sighed exasperatedly, Troy replied, "Fine! Yes! I knew."

"Ooooh, does my ickle brother have a cruuuush?" James teased.

"Shut up!" Troy said, feeling like he was eight again.

You practically fainted last time we were here and you heard them play. Those girls had you swooning in your seat," James pushed, laughing out loud now.

"Oh, har har," Troy said sarcastically. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"You're probably right," James replied.

* * *

Thunderous applause greeted Gabriella when she stepped into the spotlight but she refused to let herself look into the audience for fear that she may throw up or something equally disastrous. Her stomach churned dangerously when she opened her mouth but she ignored it. Why was she suddenly so nervous? He was only Troy Bolton... then again, the terms 'only' and 'Troy Bolton' didn't really belong in the same sentence. 

_'I'm CJ_,' she chanted in her head until she felt confident enough to continue. It really helped.

Sucking a deep breath into her lungs, Gabriella spoke into the mic.

"Hey everyone!" she hollered with enthusiasm. "Welcome to the show!"

Her eyes opened slowly and her gaze swept over the audience who were going insane. Luckily, she didn't see Troy, who was sitting in the same seat near the back of the club that he'd occupied the previous weekend.

Like always, Gabriella introduced them and the song they would start with -- a little number called 'Run Away'. Silly as it sounded, it was actually a song about Mitch Heron. She and the girls had written it as a joke one afternoon. Well, maybe they were a little bit serious about it.

Gabriella turned up the distortion on her amp and then jumped right into the few seconds of guitar intro. The loud music drowned out the sounds of the crowd and made her feel more at ease. Still, she tried to keep her eyes on her guitar or risk their show sucking big-time.

_You never notice me  
But you've got a lot to see  
I know just the thing you want or need  
A love that lasts beyond the years  
I won't let you down  
I won't leave you alone at night  
Or alone by day_

It was going well so far, maybe even good. Gabriella leaned back from the mic an inch or two to breathe a sigh of relief before she continued on to the pre-chorus.

_Cause I don't want to be  
I don't want to be alone  
No no no  
I don't want to go  
I don't want to go alone_

Thinking about how she'd probably regret it, Gabriella let her eyes wander out into the audience. Her heart sped up but she was able to start the first strain of the chorus without incident.

_Every time I see you  
I can't find the words to say  
I just want to turn and run away  
I can't find the time or place  
To say what I need to say  
I just want to run away  
I just want to run_

_'Okay, this isn't so bad. I don't see Bolton anywhere. Maybe he left..._'she thought during a vocal break. The next verse started smoothly.

I wish the sweetest eyes  
Would fall on me tonight

_'Oh no...'_

Gabriella's hands started to sweat when she found Troy Bolton walking through the club towards the stage.

_'Keep it together. What's the matter with you!'_ she chastised herself inside her head. Gabriella didn't even realize that she'd stopped singing and was backing away from the mic.

Mandy's eyes went wide as she watched her friend freeze. She did the only thing she could think of -- Mandy sang the rest of the verse alone while Claire sat in the back, watching the scene helplessly and keeping time on her drum set.

* * *

Troy had noticed the change in CJ, or Gabriella, as soon as their first song had begun. Where last Friday she'd been confident and utterly sure of herself, she was now nervous and afraid. She barely made eye contact with her fans, who were as enthused as the other night, oblivious to the lead singer's troubles. 

Some of them did exchange curious glances when Gabriella left her place behind the mic, staring into the spotlight like a deer in the headlights. The only parts of her that moved were her hands that somehow managed to separately keep up their well-rehearsed part on her guitar.

The bass player realized very quickly what had happened and seamlessly picked up the vocals where Gabriella had left off. Her voice was sweet, nice, but not really rock and roll. It did get the job done though and the audience kept on dancing, none the wiser.

_I want to steal your heart  
I want to make it mine  
And leave this all behind  
And leave a legend of a love  
I want to be the girl you need  
When you're lost at sea  
Do you want to be  
Do you want to be alone?  
No no no  
Do you want to go  
Do you want to go it alone?_

Troy watched as both of the other Gems' stared expectantly at Gabriella who now looked nothing short of petrified. Apparently there was a part of the song coming up that the bass player could not handle herself.

* * *

_'Oh God, Oh God, OH GOD!'_ Gabriella panicked inside her head. _'I can't remember the guitar solo!!'_

Her brain desperately scrambled to recall the upcoming riffs but she was coming up regrettably empty. She could feel Claire and Mandy's eyes on her, burning holes into her back as the waited for her to do her thing.

_'You've played this like seven million times. You know this!'_ she yelled inwardly.

Closing her eyes, Gabriella breathed out and poised her hands in the proper position, praying to the Rock Gods that what she was about to pay would be the right thing.

She started the solo off tentatively, sounding sloppy, but soon enough she melded her music in with that of the bass and drums. Around mid-solo, she found the courage to open her eyes, but only to glance at a grinning Mandy. This made her feel ten times better about playing; her friends were there to back her up. She finished off her solo with a bang, yowling into the mic and wailing on the strings of her guitar.

She belted out a powerful last refrain of the chorus and then the song was over, ending with a little fancy finger work on Gabriella's part. She allowed a smile to replace the concentration on her face when the music finally faded out.

While the crowd clapped loudly, cat-calling and yelling, Mandy sidled up next to the brunette.

"Nice save, Montez!" she shouted above the din, still grinning wildly. That girl loved the stage.

"Same to you!" Gabriella hollered back.

The rest of the set played out fine, although Gabriella was glad when she left the stage and the spotlight behind her. Neither of her band mates mentioned her little episode, for which she was extremely grateful. She just wanted to forget about the whole thing; but not before she gave Troy Bolton a piece of her mind.

* * *

He didn't want to admit it to himself, but ever since the Gems had finished their performance, Troy had been searching the crowded club for CJ. His brother had long since left him for some leggy blond -- so not Troy's type, not that he was one to judge. Maybe he could find the courage to strike up a conversation with her... it would make his powerful obsession with her that much less pathetic. 

Any musings of how that conversation could potentially go were interrupted by a fairly violent tap on Troy's shoulder from someone behind him.

"Hey--" he said as he turned to face them. He choked on his single word because he found that CJ was the one who'd assaulted him. "Hi," he amended in a much nicer tone of voice.

"What are you doing here?" CJ demanded.

Confused, Troy replied, "I came to see the show? Isn't that why you play?"

"Seriously, Bolton. Did you come here to show me up or something?"

The fire in her eyes only made Troy's desire for her increase. However, the fact that she knew his name only confirmed his suspicions which, given their close proximity, were pretty much confirmed already.

"So it really is you, Montez," he said instead of answering her.

Gabriella grimaced. "Yes. Okay? The invisible little nerd can play the guitar!"

"Whoa, back up. Who called you an 'invisible little nerd'?" Troy asked, insulted by her snap judgement of his character.

"Please. You had no idea I existed until last Friday," Gabriella snapped back.

Troy's mouth opened and closed soundlessly. She was right, he had no comeback. Did that make him a terrible person?

"There are a lot of people in our school... it's not like I did it on purpose!" he finally said. He saw Gabriella soften for a second before her brown eyes hardened again.

"So, you see me with some make-up and a halter top on and suddenly you want to be best friends?"

Troy found himself suddenly looking very intently at his feet. "Well, when you put it that way..."

"I thought so," Gabriella said, sounding almost... disappointed?

She turned to go but Troy wasn't giving up that easily. He stopped her by gently putting his hand on her shoulder. She glanced at it before facing him again.

"It's not like that," Troy said softly. "I mean, yeah, you're... well, you're gorgeous but there's something else about you."

Through the black eyeliner, Gabriella searched his eyes for any tinge of insincerity. Whatever she found made her blush and stammer.

"I-I should go," she blurted out. Troy didn't have an opportunity to stop her this time.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Oh mee gee! Another update in under a month! It's ground-breaking! For me anyways... Actually, this fic has really been begging me for attention lately. I imagine it won't be long before another update appears. Stay tuned! 


	4. Rockstar

**TITLE:** All of the Above (Chapter Four)

**AUTHOR:** Jessa

**RATING / GENRE:** K+ (for now) / Romance, Drama

**FANDOM / PAIRING:** High School Musical / Troy&Gabriella, Gabriella&OC

**SUMMARY:** Troy suddenly starts showing interest in a fellow Wildcat when he sees her outside the classroom.

**DISCLAIMER:** Troy, Gabriella and anything else East Highish is (c) Disney.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Just want to say thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed so far! Your support means a lot to me. Also, I've got a banner and trailer avaliable for this fic. Check 'em out! Just replace (dot) with an actual dot. BANNER: i89(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/k221/fictacious-fangirl/graphics/allbanner(dot)png TRAILER: www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v-4TBWw27uFw

ps -- I realized after I posted it that I forgot to give the details on the song I used in the last chapter (oops!). Anyways, the song was "Run Away" by the Halo Friendlies.

* * *

East High's library was a sanctuary, thanks in large part to the Nazi-like librarian, Mrs. Falsaff. Gabriella felt safe there, more so than anywhere else in the school. During her free periods she would just grab a book or some homework and make herself at home behind some shelves. 

That Monday afternoon, she was just about to dive into her latest Algebra assignment when, out of her peripheral vision, she saw someone sink down next to her on the carpeted floor. They waited patiently for her to make eye contact which she did grudgingly.

"Heya, rockstar," Troy greeted her with a toothy grin. Gabriella sighed heavily.

"What do you want, Bolton?" she asked rather more rudely than she normally spoke.

Troy held up in hands in surrender. "Just wanted to chat but, hey, if I'm bothering you..." He made to get back up again before Gabriella, for some reason she couldn't pinpoint, stopped him.

"What would you want to talk to a nerd like me for?" she questioned in a much politer tone of voice.

Troy rolled his eyes and said, "Would you quit calling yourself a nerd? I think you refer to yourself as one more than any jock I know, and I know **a lot** of jocks."

"Fine, I promise I'll give it a rest when you're around. Happy?" she said.

"Very."

Gabriella was pleasantly awed by how simple talking to Troy was. He made her feel comfortable, and she wasn't exactly smooth with guys. Then again, that was kind of his M.O. as far as she'd heard. Listening to gossip wasn't really her style but she'd heard more than once that Troy Bolton knew his way around girl territory exceedingly well. She decided, for now at least, to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"So, whatcha doing?" he asked, peering down at her paper. The motion brought him into her personal space, something that didn't bug her as much as she thought it should.

"Algebra," she replied. "I'm sure you already have it done and passed in."

Okay, now she was teasing him? Wasn't that considered flirting in some circles?

"As a matter of fact I do," he said, jokingly smug. "And you call yourself a nerd."

"Not anymore," she reminded him.

Troy said, "Good girl."

_'Hmmm, cute, athletic, funny and smart? There's got to be a catch...'_ Gabriella thought to herself. _'Why the hell does this guy not have a girlfriend?'_ Not that she was interested in him, of course. Just curious like any good scientist.

"You know, I'm surprised. Of all the places you could have spent your free period, why did you choose the library?" Gabriella asked, partly because she wanted to know and partly because she wanted to keep the conversation going.

Troy shrugged. "I knew you'd be here."

"And how would you know a thing like that?" she asked, turning her face back to her papers so he wouldn't see her blush.

"Educated guess?" Troy replied, grinning.

Silence set itself in around the two students, but it wasn't awkward. Gabriella couldn't help but wonder how she could just chill out with The Famous Troy Bolton like they'd known each other forever.

She broke the quiet by telling him what was on her mind. "You're actually a pretty nice guy, Bolton."

Troy chuckled and replied, "You sound surprised by this revelation."

"Maybe a little," Gabriella admitted. "I just never expected to have a decent conversation with you. I figured you'd keep ignoring me until we graduated and then I'd forget about you."

"Ouch, that's a bit harsh," Troy said, suddenly very interested in the shelf of book in front of him.

Gabriella came back with, "That's life in high school."

"I guess. It's kind of depressing though," Troy said. "I almost missed out on the opportunity to get to know such a cool girl."

"So you're really not just trying to get in my pants?" Gabriella asked off-hand, touched by his sentiments but still cautious.

Troy made an indignated choking noise. "What kind of a guy do you think I am?"

Gabriella flushed with shame. "I'm sorry. That was unfair," she murmured.

To help her save face, Troy brushed it off by saying in an amused voice, "You're one of the most paranoid people I've ever met, you know that, Montez?"

"I'm so not paranoid," she said, nudging her shoulder against his. "Just careful..."

"Oh, come on. How many other seveteen year old girls have a secret identity?" he questioned.

Gabriella's head whipped around in search of stray students and, to her relief, she found none. "Shhh!"

"See? Paranoid," Troy replied, pleased with himself.

"Look, I'd appreciate it if you kept that to yourself," Gabriella said, stressing the 'yourself' part.

Troy took this is before nodding. "On one condition."

She rolled her eyes, fearful of what he would say next. "And what's that, Bolton?" she asked.

"You let me in on why you think you need a secret identity," he said. She gave him a look that clearly said 'are you serious?' to which he responded unflinchingly. "You're a talented person. Why wouldn't you want everyone to know that?"

"I don't really know..." Gabriella said hesitantly. "I guess it's just easier to perform when people don't know it's me. The other night when you were there, I just froze--"

Troy cut in. "Ooooh, did I give you butterflies?" he kidded.

"Could you get over yourself for five seconds?" she said, laughing. "No, you knew who I was. And the real me doesn't feel very rockstar-like."

"But CJ **is** you. The real you should be like a mixture of this nerd you keep referring to **and** the musician," Troy reasoned.

Gabriella shifted uncomfortably and replied, "You sound like my friend Mandy..."

"We only speak the truth," Troy said. "You've got the star in you."

"I'll take that under advisement. Now, do we have a deal or what?" she asked hopefully.

Holding out his hand, Troy nodded. "Cross my heart, I won't tell anyone you're a singing, guitar slamming prodigy."

She took his hand and they shook on it while she tried to ignore the tingles running through her fingers from his warm hand.

"Thanks," she said sincerely.

He flashed his white teeth at her. "It's my pleasure, rockstar."

* * *

When Gabriella got home after a lengthy scholastic decathalon meeting, she hiked up the stairs and plopped down into her desk chair. She was starving but her mother wouldn't be home for another half hour so she decided to check if Claire was online to kill some time. 

_starshine has signed on._

A window popped up on her screen about five seconds after she logged onto her AIM.

_rawrblondie says:_ Heya Gabs!  
_starshine says:_ Hey Claire. What's up?  
_rawrblondie says:_ Just trying to ignore Jack's irritating dog. You?

Claire's older brother Jack had a German shepard named Beast who just loved to bark. Soon after Beast had been brought home, Claire declared herself a definate cat person.

_starshine says:_ Just got home. Tay had us run ragged at decathalon practice today.  
_rawrblondie says:_ Sounds like fun, brainiac.  
_starshine says:_ No kidding.  
_rawrblondie says:_ Have you talked to Mandy lately?  
_starshine says:_ Not since yesterday. Why?  
_rawrblondie says:_ She sent me a text this morning. She has something "really freaking exciting" to tell us.  
_starshine says:_ Interesting. Maybe she'll get online soon...  
_rawrblondie says:_ I hope so. My curiousity's peaked.

As if on cue, another IM window popped up on Gabriella's desktop.

_bassistbabe says:_ OMG! You won't believe what happened today!!  
_starshine says:_ Hello to you too, dear. What happened?  
_bassistbabe says:_ We were asked to open for Eclipse at Soundwaves on Saturday night!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
_starshine says:_ ... are you serious!?  
_bassistbabe says:_ No, it was a joke I made up. YES I'M SERIOUS!

Gabriella let this information sink in for a moment before a huge squeal released itself from the confines of her throat. Her eyes were wide and she slapped her hand over her mouth so as not to disturb her mother downstairs with more high pitched sounds of joy.

Soundwaves was a very exclusive club down the street from the Bronze. It was also all ages but drinks and cover were a bit more expensive so it's patrons were slightly higher class. Getting asked to play there was a rare opportunity. The Gems had heard that talent scouts liked to slip in and out of the club from time to time.

As if that weren't exciting enough, they were opening for Eclipse. They might actually get to talk to Mitch Heron! And, of course, get their name affiliated with Sunnydale's most popular local band.

The dinging noise of a new IM reply reminded Gabriella that she had left Mandy hanging.

_bassistbabe says:_ Are you still concious?

_starshine says:_ Barely. Wow! That's amazing!!  
_bassistbabe says:_ I know! D There is one small hitch though...

Uh oh. Gabriella didn't like to sound of that. Nervously, she typed her response.

_starshine says:_ What is it?  
_bassistbabe says:_ I can't come pick you up this weekend. My car is dead.

Okay, big problem. Every weekend that the Gems played, Mandy would drive to Albequerque and pick up Gabriella and her guitar. Gabriella's mother, although she supported her daughter's musical endeavors, was emphatic about having her car on the weekends as she had to get to and from work.

_starshine says:_ That's a bit of a problem...  
_bassistbabe says:_ Isn't there anyone who can drive you? Just tell them what a big deal it is.

The only people who knew about her band were the people in it and her mom. Gabriella didn't feel comfortable letting any of her school friends in on her extracurricular activities. Not even Taylor, who she was very close to and whom she trusted with almost everything else. She actually began to consider the disaster of letting the cat out of the bag. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Unless... there was _one_ other person that knew...

_starshine says:_ I might be able to work something out.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	5. Paranoid

**TITLE:** All of the Above (Chapter Five)

**AUTHOR:** Jessa

**RATING / GENRE:** K+ (for now) / Romance, Drama

**FANDOM / PAIRING:** High School Musical / Troy&Gabriella, Gabriella&OC

**SUMMARY:** Troy suddenly starts showing interest in a fellow Wildcat when he sees her outside the classroom.

**DISCLAIMER:** Troy, Gabriella and anything else East Highish is (c) Disney.

**CURRENTLY LISTENING:** "Without Love" from the Hairspray Soundtrack (only two days until the DVD comes out!!!!)

* * *

Gabriella spent the entirety of Tuesday thinking of a way to get Troy to drive her all the way to Sunnydale. Why she thought she stood a chance of getting what she wanted, she didn't know but she had to try. Mandy and Claire were counting on her. Not to mention that she wanted this opportunity so bad she could almost taste it. She knew Troy drove around an old, beat up truck that he and his dad had fixed up over the summer; she'd heard him telling this to anyone who would listen during the first week or so of school. 

By the time the day was over, the only plan she'd been able to muster was a straight forward one -- just ask. If he said no, she'd just have to prepare to beg and she was more than willing at this point. Swallowing her pride, and trying to ignore how her pulse raced, Gabriella approached him at his locker as he was gathering up his books.

"Troy?" she said timidly.

His hands stopped moving and he turned slowly. "Hey rockstar," he replied, a smile stretching over his lips. "What's up?"

Unlike Gabriella, he didn't seem to care that his friends were now staring at her in confusion and even mild annoyance. It made her feel very much like the nerd she kept telling Troy she was.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" she asked, cursing the quake in her voice. He looked at her strangely and nodded.

"Sure."

She lead the way into the nearest classroom, which was empty due to the fact that most students had already hightailed it to the buses or the parking lot. Troy's friends continued to watch until they disappeared from sight.

"What is it?" Troy asked. He didn't seem irritated about being pulled aside like Gabriella had imagined he would. If anything he seemed concerned.

Gabriella swallowed a breath of cool air and began. "Okay, there's this huge gig we've been invited to for Saturday night. It's an opportunity we've been waiting for forever but there's one small problem in the fact that I have no way to get there and I can't ask any of my friends to drive me because they don't know about the whole singing thing and I know we barely know each other but I was wondering if you'd please, please, **please** drive me to Sunnydale on Saturday. I'll do **anything**!" When she was done speaking, she felt slightly dizzy because she'd been so anxious that she'd forgotten to breath in between sentences. She waited with bated breath for Troy to respond. Deep down, she'd already steeled herself for rejection.

Troy had an amused smile on his face that grew as he watched her pant for oxygen. "Calm down, rockstar," he said. "I can drive you but you have to help **me** with something."

Gabriella felt so relieved that she didn't care enough to worry about what he wanted in return. "Really? That's amazing!"

"Aren't you gonna ask me what I need help with?" he asked, laughing.

"Okay, what do you need help with?" she replied.

"I need a tutor for Biology and I heard you were top of the class so, would you mind teaching me?" he questioned hopefully.

Gabriella giggled and said, "That's it? I would have done that anyway if you'd asked."

She'd tutored a few people before, even one or two on the request of a teacher.

"I was going to ask but I was..." Troy said, suddenly blushing.

"You were what?"

"I don't know... nervous, I guess," he finished, looking at his sneakers.

Gabriella was puzzled. Whoa, Troy Bolton was too nervous to talk to a math whiz? Maybe Gabriella hadn't had the mind of a jock all figured out after all. Or maybe Troy was more than just a jock. "Nervous? Why would you be nervous?"

"You could've said no," he answered.

"And then you could have laughed it off with your millions of friends," Gabriella replied in disbelief.

"Or I could have gone home to watch a bunch of chick flicks and eat an entire tub of ice cream," Troy joked. "I don't handle rejection too well."

Giggling again, Gabriella said, "Well, I guess it's a good thing it doesn't happen to you all that often then."

Troy rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably at this comment and said, "Yeah... so, anyways we can talk details tomorrow."

"Thanks so much, Troy. You have no idea how much this means to me," Gabriella replied, bouncing on the heels of her pink flats.

"Just call me a knight in a beat up old Chevy," Troy said.

"I guess I'd better get going then. My mom's probably waiting for me with a lecture at the ready," Gabriella said, inching towards the door.

Troy nodded and replied, "I'll talk to you soon, Montez."

Before he left, he patted her on the shoulder. It was a short, subconscious gesture that somehow made butterflies appear in the pit of Gabriella's stomach. She watched him go, thinking about their latest exchange. Troy Bolton's tutor... there were worse jobs to have.

* * *

When she got home, Gabriella raced up to her room after saying goodbye to her mother who headed back to work. She leapt onto her bed and snatched the cordless phone beside it off the hook. Hastily, she pressed number three on the speed dial, Claire's cell number. Claire hated using her home phone because her aunt Lindsey, whom she and her brother lived with, had the annoying habit of listening in on her conversations. 

After five rings, her blond friend finally picked up. Her greeting was less than pleased. "Jesus, woman! Would you let me get in the door before you call me?" she asked, out of breath. "Some of us have half-hour bus rides to endure before we can finally relax for the day."

Gabriella just ignored this. Claire often got on like that but Gabriella knew by now that she never meant anything by it.

"I got a ride to Soundwaves on Saturday!" Gabriella squealed, unable to keep the information to herself a second longer. Claire shrieked delightedly on the other end of the line, so loudly that Gabriella had to hold the phone away from her ear. Before Claire spoke again, Gabriella heard her brother say something in the background. Claire said to him, "You're never going to get a girl with that attitude, Jack-off." Then her attention turned back to the matter at hand. "Who's driving you? Is it Taylor because I'd really like to finally meet that girl."

Gabriella cleared her throat guiltily. "It's not Taylor... he's just a friend from school..."

"He?" Claire said, her voice raising in pitch. "Is there something you haven't been telling me about, Missy?"

"No! He already knew about me so I thought I'd ask, you know, just in case he agreed to help me out," Gabriella explained. She tried to keep her tone casual so Claire wouldn't make a big deal but she was having a surprisingly difficult time.

Claire jokingly replied, "A boy who knows about your big secret? Wow, that's like second base for you. Why have I not heard of this guy before. I thought best friends were supposed to tell each other this sort of thing."

"Well, you kind of have heard of him before," Gabriella said. "I pointed him out to you and Mandy at the Bronze the other night."

There was a short bout of silence on the line while Claire tried to recall the guy she was referring to. "Jock boy?" she questioned after several seconds.

"That's the one," Gabriella confirmed. "He's actually not half bad... you know, for a jock."

She almost felt wrong calling him that.

"Uh huh. I haven't heard you talk about a boy, besides the Rock God, in... ever. What's going on here?" Claire said, a smile on her voice.

"Nothing! He's just helping me out and I'm tutoring him in return," Gabriella scrambled to say.

"Whatever you say, Gabs. I'm just insanely glad you can make it. Anyways, I've gotta go because Jack-off is going to have a heart attack if he can't call his precious Juliet in the next minute," Claire replied. Juliet was Jack's long-time girlfriend. They'd been together at least as long as Gabriella had been friends with Claire.

"Okay. Talk to you later, Claire!" Gabriella said.

"Bye!" Claire replied and the line clicked.

* * *

Gabriella searched the halls for Troy all Wednesday but the basketball star was nowhere to be seen. The first thought that popped into her head was that he was avoiding her. He regretted agreeing to drive her and he was trying to weasel out of it by avoiding her. Hurt soon turned to anger and by the time she finally spotted him walking with his friends towards the cafeteria at the beginning of lunch period on Thursday afternoon, she was a bit worked up. 

With more courage that she normally possessed, which was pretty much none, she stalked up to him. The smile that had been about to spring to his face froze in mid-spring when he noticed her expression. It was replaced with fear and confusion.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she hissed through her teeth. Once again, all his friends were staring at her as though she had two heads.

He stammered, "Uh... y-yeah, of course."

She grabbed his arm and yanked him off to a more secluded section of hallway. "Look, if you didn't want to give me a ride to Sunnydale this weekend, you could have just told me. You didn't have to say yes just to be nice and then avoid me!"

Troy blinked once or twice and exhaled. "Whoa, rockstar. I wasn't avoiding you. I think that paranoia is acting up again."

"Y-you weren't?" she asked, a heavy blush starting to creep it's way into her cheeks. To her relief, he just laughed.

"No, I was out sick yesterday and this morning. I just got here," he explained and Gabriella could feel herself growing redder with each word. "I was going to talk to you in afternoon homeroom because I know you usually eat your lunch in the science lab which, by the way, sounds like a really bad idea to me."

_'Oh. My. God.'_ Gabriella moaned inside her head.

"I-I am so sorry," she said out loud. "I let myself get carried away..."

"I'll say. You looked like you were going to do an Ozzy Osbourne on me and bite my head off," Troy teased. Gabriella was gripped with the sudden desire to be able to melt into the floor. Wow, she was good at embarrassing herself.

"It wasn't _that_ bad," she protested, studying the logo on Troy's shirt intently.

"You didn't see your face. Whoo, it's a good thing I'm charming enough that I could talk you down."

Gabriella groaned, ignoring his attempts to make light of the situation. "All your friends probably think I'm some freaky bossy stalker person now."

Troy shrugged, completely carefree, and replied, "Who cares?"

"Don't you?"

"Should I?" he questioned, an attractive crease forming between his eyebrows.

"Aren't you worried they'll bug you about talking to a crazy nerd who follows you around and yells at you?" she asked.

"What did we say about the name-calling, Montez?" Troy said sternly. Gabriella tipped her head in acknowledgment. "And I don't care. It's none of their business who else I choose to be friends with."

Gabriella's worries melted away like ice cream when their eyes locked. She could tell instantly that he was being honest. He really didn't care. The entire school could walk by and Troy would just go on talking to her as if they were still alone. she was sure of it. Troy Bolton considered her a friend! The notion filled her with an odd feeling of warmth that she didn't necessarily understand.

When the intensity of the moment, his truthful words and the connection of their eyes, became too much, Troy cleared his throat. "So, about Saturday...?"

"Right. We'd have to leave at around six, if that's okay?" Gabriella responded politely.

"Sure," he replied. "Can you give me your address so I can come pick you up?" Shyness had wormed it's way into his request.

Gabriella tried to overlook the fact that Troy Bolton had just asked her for her address and reached into one of the front pockets of her sidebag, procuring a pen and small notebook. (Whoever said being organized didn't have it's advantages had obviously never had to give a cute boy their address.) Her hands shook as she scribbled down what he needed to know, making a mockery of her normally perfect cursive. It was legible, however, so she handed it to Troy. He held the paper in his hands, reading it over a couple times and mouthing the words for good measure.

"Yeah, I know where this is," he said, folding it neatly in half and stowing it away in his jeans' pocket for safekeeping. "Sorry to run but I've had nothing but water and saltines for the past two days and my stomach is taking control of my body. It's forcing me to go buy cafeteria fries," he divulged, patting his flat stomach. Gabriella giggled, replacing her pen and notebook in her bag.

"You're crazy, Wildcat," she said with a smirk. "Now go eat."

"Thank you!" he said, exaggerating his gratefulness. "'Til we meet again, rockstar." He winked at her, which definitely **didn't** make her heart skip a beat or two, and bounded down the hallway towards his precious french fries. Gabriella had to shake herself out of the goofy grin that had magically appeared on her face while she gazed at his retreating back. She didn't even realize it had been there since he winked.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED.**

* * *

**AN:** I know things are a bit mellow at the moment but I'm setting them up for something a bit more dramatic so hang in there! Thanks for reading. :) 


	6. Geek In The Truck

**TITLE:** All of the Above (Chapter Six)

**AUTHOR:** Jessa

**RATING / GENRE:** K (for now) / Romance, Drama

**FANDOM / PAIRING:** High School Musical / Troy&Gabriella, Gabriella&OC

**SUMMARY:** Troy suddenly starts showing interest in a fellow Wildcat when he sees her outside the classroom.

**DISCLAIMER:** Troy, Gabriella and anything else East Highish is (c) Disney.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Thanks for being so patient guys! I know it's been a million years since my last update. I've actually had the majority of this chapter done for a long time, I just wasn't quite able to end it. Finally I just had to do something just so I could continue the story. It probably sucks but meh. Oh yeah, and the song is "Geek In The Pink" by Jason Mraz. So very catchy. Beware if you choose to download!

* * *

_'You can do this. Just get out of the truck and knock on her damn door!'_

It was 5:59 on Saturday evening and Troy had been sitting in his truck, which was parked in front of an attractive suburban home, for the last ten minutes. The house was Gabriella's and she'd be expecting him soon. The only problem was that his nerves seemed to have a mind of their own. They weren't letting him move from the driver's seat.

He watched the digital clock on his dashboard change. 6:00; the time Gabriella had told him to pick her up. Trying not to think too hard about the gorgeous girl that lived just beyond the green door of the house, Troy left his truck and made his way up the walkway. With his eyes closed, he knocked softly on the door. Mere seconds ticked by before the door was flung open by a petite brunette girl.

Gabriella was already dressed up for her show. Troy had seen her in her stage clothes two times previous but on neither occasion had she put as much effort into her outfit as she had that night. Her hair was wildly curly and pinned up on the side with winding wisps framing her face. The brown eyes that Troy loved to melt into but also tried in vain to ignore were lined with thick black liner that made them seem wider than usual. A black silk halter top with an empire waist showed off her equally silky shoulders. Paired with dark jeans, pointed black kitten heels and black sequined armbands, Gabriella was the most sophisticated, and sexiest, singer Troy had ever seen; and that included every girl ever on MTV.

She was oblivious to his delighted scrutiny as she hefted her guitar, in it's case, outside. Troy, the gentlemen that he was, snapped out of his dream state and immediately jumped in.

"Let me get that for you," he said softly and grabbed for the handle. His hand closed over Gabriella's and for a second they both just stared at their entangled fingers. Gabriella finally let him take the case from her. He noticed the extra blush in her cheeks and almost swooned. She looked so adorable when she was embarassed. "You look awesome, by the way." He couldn't just _not_ tell her that, especially when it was more or less all he could think about.

He could see her cheeks burn even brighter despite the low light of dusk. "Thanks," she mumbled, her eyes on the pavement passing beneath their feet as they walked to his truck. Gently as possible, he laid her guitar in the trunk.

"Is your guitar okay back here? There's not much room in the cab," he inquired, thinking she may be worried about it moving around in the large trunk.

She nodded shyly and smiled. "That's fine. It is in a case, after all."

Troy smiled back and darted to the passenger door. Before she could get her hand on the handle, he had it opened for her. She giggled appreciatively at his chivalry and climbed in, letting him shut the door behind her. Once he was back behind the wheel, he turned the ignition and the truck rumbled to life. It was old and made a racket but it was his and Troy loved it all the same.

"Nice truck," Gabriella commented while they pulled out into the street. "Although I would have seen you as more of a shiny new convertable kind of guy." Her eyes wandered around the cab, taking in the tiny details that made the vehicle special.

"Even if I could afford a shiny new convertable, I don't think I'd trade my baby for anything," Troy replied, patting the dashboard lovingly. Gabriella made a small "hmm" noise and Troy's eyes left the road so he could send her a sidelong glance. "What?" he asked.

"I don't know. I just think it's kind of... sweet. Even if you did just refer to a truck as your 'baby'."

Troy blushed now. He definately wasn't going to let her in on the fact that he actually called it 'Lucy' most of the time; after his late grandmother.

A half mile passed in relative silence before Gabriella piped up again. "Do you mind if I flick on the radio? I kind of have this pre-show thing where I warm up my voice..."

Excitement filled Troy at the thought of hearing her sing again and he ethusastically said, "Of course."

"As long as you promise not to laugh," she replied and reached for the radio knob.

"Scout's honor," Troy replied, utilizing the appropriate hand gesture.

The radio blasted to life, static-y at first but soon Gabriella began to turn the knob, listening intently for a familiar song on one of the passing stations. Random snippets of sound whizzed by until she paused on one particular station. Troy recognized the song playing and couldn't help but laugh a little as Gabriella sat back in her seat, replacing her hand in her lap.

"You said you wouldn't laugh, you big liar," she said jokingly. She understood that he found the song amusing.

"Does this song really help you get ready for your shows?" he asked sceptically.

"I love this song!" she said, her voice defensive. Showing her allegence to the tune, she began to sing, keeping up perfectly with the speedy pace of the lyrics.

_Well let the geek in the pink take a stab at it  
If you like the way I'm thinkin' baby wink at it  
I may be skinny at times but I'm fat for the rhymes  
Pass me the mic and I'm a grab at it  
Well isn't it delicious crazy way that I'm kissin'  
This baby listen to this don't wanna miss it while it's hittin'  
Sometimes you gotta fit in to get in  
But don't ever quit cause soon I'm gonna let you in but see_

Troy couldn't help but stare at the girl in the seat next to him, grooving away to the beats flowing from his stereo. "You know every word!" he said in amazement. She nodded and smiled micheviously but never stopped her recessitation of the lyrics.

_I don't care what you might think about me  
you'll get by without me if you want  
Well, I could be the one to take you home  
Baby we could rock the night alone  
If we never get down it wouldn't be a let down  
But sugar don't forgettin' what you already know  
That I could be the one to turn you out  
We could be the talk across the town  
Don't judge it by the color, confuse it for another  
You might regret what you let slip away _

like the geek in the pink (do do do...)  
well like the geek in the pink, yeah (geek in the pink) 

Gabriella gasped for breath while there was a break in the lyrics, half from the exertion of rapping and half because she was laughing almost as hard as Troy now was.

_Well my relationship fodder don't mean to bother nobody  
But Cupid's automatic musta fired multiple shots at her  
Because she fall in love too often that's what the matter  
At least I talk about it keep a pattern of flattery and  
She was starin' through the doorframe,and  
Eyeing me down like already a bad boyfriend  
Well she can get her toys outta the drawer then  
Cause I ain't comin' home I don't need that attention, see _

I don't care what she might think about me  
She'll get by without me if she want  
well, I could be the one to take her home  
Baby we could rock the night alone  
If we never get down it wouldn't be a let down  
But sugar don't forgetin' what you already know  
that I could be the one to turn you out  
We could be the talk across the town  
Don't judge it by the color, confuse it for another  
You might regret what you let slip away 

"Oh God!" Gabriella panted, knowing there was still a ways to go before the song was over. This only made Troy's peals of laughter louder. He was having a hard time driving properly because all he wanted to do was witness Gabriella's dorkiness. It was almost impossible for him to find the willpower to keep his eyes on the road.

_Hey baby look at me go  
From zero to hero  
You better take it from a geek like me  
Well I can save you from unoriginal dum-dums  
Who wouldn't care if you com...plete them or not_

At this point, Gabriella seemed to have no traces of shyness in her. Singing, even if it was just singing along with some random song on the radio, appeared to wipe away the timidness she dealt with day to day. It was like watching a flower bloom in the sun.

_So what I've got a short attention span  
A coke in my hand  
Because I'd rather have the afternoon, relax and understand  
My hip hop and flip-flops well it don't stop with the light rock  
A shot to mock you kinda puts me in the tight spot  
The hype is nothing more than hoo-ha so I'm  
Developing a language and I'm callin' it my own  
So take a peek into the speaker and you'll see what I mean  
That on the other side the grass is greener _

I don't care what you might think about me  
You'll get by without me if you want  
I could be the one to take you home  
Baby we could rock the night alone  
If we never get down it wouldn't be a let down  
But sugar don't forgetin' what you already know  
I could be the one to turn you out  
We could be the talk across the town  
Don't judge it by the color, confuse it for another  
You might regret what you let slip away  
like the geek in the pink (do do do...)  
I'm the geek in the pink ya'll  
geek is the color for fall  
I'm the geek in the pink  


To finish up the routine, Gabriella pouted her lips and played invisible turntables, gangsta-style.

_so i'm the geek ya'll  
in the pink ya'll  
geek is the color for fall  
I'm the geek in the pink_

"Okay... I'm warmed up enough now," she wheezed, switching the radio off again and bathing the truck in silence.

"You're really something," Troy said. He was breathless from laughing. "Just when I think I've got you pegged, you break out the rapping skills."

Gabriella grinned and replied, "I'm going to try and take that as a compliment."

"Oh, you should!"

"Well, Basketball Boy, since I've demonstrated to you my hidden rapping talents, I think it's only fair that you tell me something about yourself. What's one thing you like to do that no one knows about?" she asked. Troy didn't know wether or not she realized it but somewhere along the way, she'd moved closer to him. One of her knees was brushing against his leg; Troy could feel the heat of her body. He glanced at her and found that she was excitedly anticipating his answer.

As long as he considered her question, Troy couldn't think of anything to divuldge. All he really did was play basketball and do homework. Add in the occasional quality time with friends and he was one pretty boring guy. "I can't think of anything," he told her honestly.

"Not _one_ thing?" she asked, eyebrows knitting together.

Troy shook his head. "Basketball, school and friends. There you have Troy Bolton's agenda."

"Hmm," Gabriella said, moving back over to her side of the truck. "Sounds very predictable. Don't you ever just want to do something crazy?"

_'Only all the time.'_

How often had Troy thought of just not showing up for basketball practice or joining some other club, something his friends would never be caught dead attending a meeting for? Being treated like royalty was cool but Troy found himself wishing on a regular basis that he was just a normal guy who could do whatever he wanted without having the entire student body judge him.

"I guess. People's brains would probably fall out if I put a toe out of line," he replied, keeping his gaze on the road in front of him, fully aware that Gabriella was studying his face. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing," she said thoughtfully.

"Maybe not."

* * *

Gabriella expertly directed Troy to a parking space a little ways down the street from Soundwaves. Judging from the slight shakiness in her voice, Troy imagined that she was starting to feel some butterflies. When he pulled in and turned his truck off, neither one of them exited right away. Gabriella seemed frozen to the spot, her fingers clutching the seat apolstry until her knuckles started turning white.

"You okay in there?" he questioned, sliding closer to her.

She nodded frantically but accentuated the gesture with a loud gulp, giving Troy the impression she was anything but okay.

"Are you sure, rockstar?"

"Uh... maybe not completely. God, I'm totally gonna screw this up," she said. Her voice was raising in pitch with each word that passed through her lips. "I'm going to screw this up and then Claire and Mandy are never going to speak to me again and I'll be exiled from Sunnydale and all things musical!" Her head whipped around to stare at Troy, who was trying very hard not to laugh. He knew she was beside herself but, God help him, she was too cute for words.

"Gabriella," he said as he gently wrenched her hand from the seat of his truck. "You're going to be amazing. Don't think about where you are, don't think about anyone else. Just think about the music and I know you can blow everyone's minds. Trust me." Remarkably, her breathing began to slow and her body relaxed. It took them both a minute to realize that he was still holding her hand in his. The way his thumb was rubbing tiny circles around her knuckles unconciously soothed her.

Gabriella's lips gradually turned up at the corners and Troy couldn't help but smile with her. "Thanks, Troy. I'm really glad you're here." He shrugged modestly although the compliment secretly made a tingly feeling spread from his stomach to the rest of his body.

Somewhere in the back of both their minds, they were reluctant to break the contact of their joined hands but Gabriella pulled hers slowly from his grasp and moved it to the door handle. It was now or never.

* * *


	7. Rock God Rival

**Kaaaay, so I finally have another chapter for you guys! I know, I leave you hanging pretty much all the time. Sorry! You'll be pleased to learn, however, that I actually have an outline for this fic done and now that I actually know where I'm headed, updates should be coming more frequently... I hope.**

**Props, of course, to the amazingly awesome boomerang girl Charli! She gave me her thoughts on a portion of this chapter as well as my outline of the fic in it's entirety so thaaaaanks to heeeer! **

**The song used in this chapter is "Real Wild Child" by Josie and the Pussycats.**

**One more thing -- I have a guy in mind for Mitch Heron, who sadly is going to play a big part in this story in the near future. Soooo, watch this and picture the lead singer as our very own Mitch Heron! www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?vF3mbk8IzUb0 I looooove him...**

**Anyways, it's storytime! Enjoy! (;**

* * *

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

In front of the stage, empty of anything besides the Gems' instruments, Claire and Mandy were about to be formally introduced to Troy. Mandy seemed especially enthused.

"Girls, this is my... friend, Troy," Gabriella said, unsure of exactly what they were. Troy nodded at her use of the word "friends" as if confirming it as a fact. "Troy, these losers are Claire and Mandy." She pointed to them as she said their names; Claire gave him a friendly smile while Mandy's eyes wandered up and down appreciatively. Finally she waved flirtatiously and Troy, blushing slightly at her blatant attraction to him, waved politely in return.

"Not bad at all, Montez," Mandy said. Gabriella shot her a look that told her to tone it down a notch. She caught it but merely shrugged, unashamed.

Claire, who was too used to her friend's behaviour to acknowledge it, jumped in. "Thanks for doing this, Troy. We owe you one. You can't really pull off a show without your lead singer slash guitar player."

"No problem. I've seen a few of your shows. You're really good," he replied, shuffling his feet.

"Thanks. We try," Mandy said and the group laughed lightly. Suddenly, the girls all stopped, their eyes moving as one to something behind Troy's head.

"Oh my God..." Claire squeaked. He was about to turn around so he could investigate before Gabriella grabbed his arm rather hard.

"Don't look!" she hissed. He stared at her as if she'd suddenly grown an extra head, completely confused.

"What's going on...?" he asked, now slightly concerned at how pale Gabriella's face had gotten.

Swallowing loudly, Gabriella fielded his question in a nervous whisper. "Mitch Heron is coming straight for us!"

"Who's--"

Before he could get the words out, another clear male voice sounded from behind him. It was low and... oddly mysterious. "Hey ladies. Ready for the show?"

If he hadn't been so busy fighting back pangs of what he recognized as inexplicable jealousy, Troy would have laughed at the deer-in-the-headlights look that all three of the Gems' were sporting. Figuring that they now probably wouldn't notice him if he set fire to his own hair, Troy turned to face the boy that held the affections of almost every female in the room. For once in his life Troy knew what it was like to be second best. He wouldn't have minded but Gabriella was practically drooling on Mitch's black converse, and for some reason he found that this really hit a nerve.

Mandy, the first one to find her voice, replied in a much higher pitched tone of voice than Troy remembered her having. "Oh yeah. Definitely."

"I've seen you guys play before. You really rock it out," Mitch said smoothly, making Troy, against his better judgement, want to smack him upside the head. His faintly black-rimmed eyes were trained on Gabriella, a lilting smile on his lips.

_'And why is this freaking me out so much?' _Troy asked himself. He found himself ten times more freaked when Gabriella smiled her huge sunny smile in response.

"Thanks?" Claire said, clearly dazed by Mitch's compliment. "You guys are great too."

Mitch chuckled and Troy watched all three girls pretty much melt into puddles on the floor of the club. "Thanks. I'm looking foreward to your set. Especially your guitar solos, CJ. You're like fire on that fretboard." Gabriella's eyes widened and miraculously, more blood rushed to her cheeks.

To Troy's completely surprise, she regained her calm a split second later. She even boldly replied, "Thanks, Mitch. You know I'm no competition for your Rock God self though." They both stepped closer together, engaging one another as Gabriella's friends stared in awe. It wasn't like her to be so flirty and forward. All Troy could think about was how much he wanted to pick Gabriella up and run out of the club with her. She probably wouldn't have taken too kindly to that, which was about the only thing that stopped him.

"And Gabriella Montez has left the building," Claire whispered only loud enough for Troy and Mandy to hear.

"Make way for CJ," Mandy concluded.

"Does she do this a lot?" Troy asked, alarmed.

Both girls instantly shook their heads. "Nope, never. But that girl over there?" Claire said as she pointed to Gabriella, who was currently pushing Mitch's chest playfully and giggling. "That's no Gabriella Montez."

Somehow, this didn't make Troy feel any better.

* * *

"Wow, Gabi. Don't you think it was kind of bitchy to just abandon Troy like that?" Mandy asked as they chilled out backstage. They only had about one minute until showtime.

Gabriella had been readjusting her thick black eyeliner in a compact mirror but she paused to gaze at her friend, her brows knitted together. "What do you mean? He was with you guys. Like either of you would pass up the chance to flirt with Mitch Heron," she replied, finishing off with a grin.

"I think Mandy's right, babe. He _did_ drive you all this way..." Claire said quietly.

"Come on, guys! I'm sure Troy didn't mind!"

Mandy replied in a sing-songy tone that grated on Gabriella's patience. "I wouldn't be too sure of that..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Satisfied with her eye make-up, Gabriella now concentrated on fixing her guitar strap as the other two girls shared a look that she didn't see.

"Nothing. I just don't think he drove all the way out here to watch you flirt with someone else."

Gabriella stared curiously at Mandy before her expression softened, guilt taking over. "Maybe you're right... I just got caught up in the moment. I mean, Mitch Heron was flirting with me. With _me_!"

Her friend's laughter made Gabi feel slightly better but she decided to apologize to Troy after the show was over. After he'd done this huge favour for her, she had to agree that it had been rude to just leave him -- even for the hotness of Mitch Heron.

"You're on ladies."

All thoughts of Troy fled Gabriella's mind when Mitch stuck his head into their dressing room. She smiled in what she hoped was an attractive manner at him and replied, steadily as she could manage, "Thanks, Mitch."

He nodded back her and left the room, but not before winking sexily in her direction. Stunned, she only remembered that she was supposed to be heading on stage when Claire gave her a nudge out the door. Mandy looked her up and down, shaking her head.

"You lucky bitch."

* * *

Troy felt awkward sitting alone at a table with people chatting and dancing all around him. He felt out of place, a concept that was foreign to him. Every now and then, he'd catch a girl eyeing him from afar but so far, none of them had the nerve to approach him. In a way he was glad. How was he supposed to concentrate on another girl when Gabriella Montez was about to perform? He'd probably end up with a coke splashed all over him and a less-than-pleasant nickname.

Tingles shot through his body when the lights in the club dimmed slightly. A large spotlight floated across the crowd, resting after a moment on the center of the stage. Troy fidgeted in his chair, anticipating the intro of the Neon Gems' starting song.

Gabriella stepped into the light, its harsh brightness hi-lighting each of her breathtaking features. He could tell immediately that she would own the stage tonight. The girl in front of him was physically identical to Gabriella Montez, but there was no trace of her shy demeanor to be seen; she was taking the audience head on and she was going to win.

Her hooded eyes glanced left and right, a devious smirk on her pouty lips, before she suddenly struck up the into to a rapid rock song on her guitar. Before Troy could brace himself, he was bombarded with music.

_Well I'm just outta school  
Like I'm real real cool  
Gotta dance like a fool  
Get the message that  
I wanna be a wild one  
Ooh yeah I'm a wild one  
Gotta break it loose  
Gotta keep it movin' wild  
Gotta keep it swingin', baby  
I'm a real wild child_

It was easy to see that Gabriella was giving the song all she had. Troy had grown accustomed to her voice being soft and sweet when she spoke -- he felt as though he could listen to it for hours -- but now she was unleashing her passion and fury into the mic. It was unfamiliar but still the sexiest damn thing Troy had ever witnessed.

_I'm a real wild one  
And I like wild fun  
In a world gone crazy  
Everything seems hazy  
I'm a wild one  
Ooh yeah I'm a wild one  
Gotta break it loose  
Gotta keep it movin' wild  
Gotta keep it swingin', baby  
I'm a real wild child_

Gabriella's fingers flew at lightening speed across the strings as her other hand mercilessly strummed with the shiny pick that Troy had once had his hands on. The guitar solo was electric, thrumming through every fibre of Troy's body. She thrashed around the stage with abandon, sliding down to her knees as the solo drew to a close.

_Well I'm just outta school  
Like I'm real real cool  
Gotta dance like a fool  
Get the message that  
I wanna be a wild one  
Ooh yeah I'm a wild one  
Gotta break it loose  
Gotta keep it movin' wild  
Gotta keep it swingin', baby  
I'm a real wild child_

The chorus repeated a few more blissful times. Gabriella dominated the stage, her other two bandmates becoming all but invisible in comparsion. She used her entire body to perform, only adding to her blatantly seductive vocals. It was like being in heaven and hell at the same time because when Troy followed Gabriella's hot gaze, he found that it fell right on Mitch, who was leaning against the bar and appeared to be enjoying himself immensely. Her whole performance was for him alone, no matter how many people had jammed themselves into Soundwaves that night.

As the Gems' set continued, one thing was certain. Mandy had been right -- the girl on-stage wasn't Gabriella Montez. CJ was putting on one of the best shows of her life.

* * *

Gabriella's body was still humming with adrenaline after the five minutes it took her to safely stow her guitar back in it's case and touch base with Claire and Mandy. They were all incredibly pleased with how the show had gone, especially the petite brunette. She could still feel all the energy in the air and as she threaded her way through the crowd, several strangers stopped her to let her know how much she'd rocked. She politely thanked each one of them, trying to pay attention to their banter over not only the loud music that had replaced them, but also the little bit of guilt that was tarnishing her musical triumph. Thinking back on the few minutes before the show, Gabriella replayed her friends' words in her head. They were right; she shouldn't have brushed off Troy the way she did. He'd been nothing but generous to her and repaying him by running off with another guy, Mitch Heron or not, was ungrateful of her.

Thankfully, it didn't take her long to find him in amongst the crowd -- his bright red Wildcats t-shirt stood out somewhat comically amid the sea of dark, ripped clothing favored by the club's patrons -- and when their eyes met across the club, he gave her a small smile. Excusing herself from being hit on by a guy that was at least four years older than her, Gabriella skipped over to him, happy to see that although he looked slightly uncomfortable, at least he didn't look pissed.

"Great show!" he said as soon as she halted in front of him.

"Thanks! I had my good luck charm with me," she joked, beaming at him. He seemed to loosen up in an instant, his own hesitant smile blossoming into something more genuine.

"Nice try, rockstar. Remember the luck you had with me at your last show?"

Gabriella grimaced as she recalled the trouble Troy had inadvertently caused her while attending her last performance at the Bronze. Stage fright had consumed her when she realized there was actually someone who knew her in the audience, and she'd forgotten the lyrics to a song she'd helped write herself. How had he even noticed that she'd messed up? Mandy, thankfully, had the presence in mind to pick up her slack, not even missing a beat, and she had managed to pull it together in time for the guitar solo. Anyone who wasn't in the Gems shouldn't have noticed... unless it sounded worse than she had thought...

"You noticed that?" she questioned, flushing.

Troy, for some unknown reason, blushed as well. "Well... I, uh, you looked nervous... and then you stopped singing so I, uh, figured..." he trailed off as he rubbed his neck awkwardly.

"Yeah... not one of my finer moments. I was hoping no one noticed. I guess it was kind of obvious that I fooled up," Gabriella lamented with a wince.

"No, no, no!" Troy rushed to reassure her. "You were perfect..."

Gabriella giggled as his usually tanned cheeks turned even redder and replied, "Well, thanks for saying so, Troy." Her worries from earlier returned to her then, puncturing her aura of amusement. "Listen, I wanted to apologize about before the show," she said, her eyes becoming dangerously pleading. "I shouldn't have left you alone like that."

Troy chuckled good naturedly but somehow Gabriella could tell that he appreciated the apology. "I'm a big boy, Gabriella. Don't worry about me," he teased, throwing in a wink for maximum charm.

"I mean it!" she chastised without much conviction; her smile gave her away. He dodged the light smack she had aimed at his shoulder. "You went through all the trouble of driving me here when you didn't have to and that was a stupid way of showing you my thanks."

"Well, as long as you're going to insist on apologizing for nothing... I accept," he said.

Gabriella was on the verge of a heartfelt response when Troy's blue eyes darkened, a ghost of a frown on his face. Seconds later she felt a tap on her shoulder. She was pleasantly surprised to find Mitch standing behind her, his stance cool and casual.

* * *

A surge of frustration welled up inside Troy when he'd seen Mitch approaching, obviously making a beeline for Gabriella. Now, regardless of the apology she'd just persistently forced on him, he was forgotten once again.

"Hey," she breathed, her eyes drinking Mitch in, suddenly too preoccupied to notice the look of hurt poorly concealed on Troy's face.

Mitch rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, hands in his pocket and a smirk on his lips. "Nice work up there, CJ."

_'He doesn't even know her real name...'_ Troy thought bitterly. But there was nothing he could do -- Gabriella seemed captivated by the boy with the converse and sleek black hair.

What came next almost caused Troy to go completely mental and start flipping tables over. He had to settle for clenching his jaw and enduring the torture in painful silence.

"Hey, listen. I was wondering if you'd maybe wanna do something with me next weekend?"

He watched in horror as her face lit up ever so slightly. He recognized the excitement in her eyes, although she tried to maintain a cool exterior for Mitch's benefit.

"You mean, like a... date?" she asked. The edge of hope in her voice was easily detectable.

Mitch laughed lightly and said, in what Troy thought was a little bit of a condescending way, "Yeah. Can I have your number or whatever?"

As much as Troy longed to hear Gabriella turn Mitch down, he knew that even if he lived for anther million years, he'd probably never see that happen. His jealousy had made one fact very plain... Troy Bolton liked Gabriella Montez, more than she liked him. He looked on helplessly as she made plans with another guy, a terrible sinking sensation in his gut.

* * *

"I can't _believe_ it! Mitch Heron!" Gabriella squealed, for what seemed like the hundredth time to Troy. It was close to 1am and they were well on their way back towards Albuquerque, speeding along in Troy's truck. He tried to concentrate on the road instead of the cute girl in the seat next to him -- the one he now realized he had feelings for which weren't reciprocated. Someone else had beaten him to the punch.

_'I am such an idiot...' _Troy internally moaned. He was vaguely aware of Gabriella's non-stop stream of Mitch-related banter. Most of it was almost too high pitched for humans the human ear anyways. He was torn between relief and dismay when he finally pulled up in front of the Montez's house. On the one hand, he was sure he would have to bash his head off the steering wheel if he heard Mitch's name one more time, but on the other, just being near Gabriella, even when she was droning on about another guy, made his heart go crazy. He knew he'd never felt this strongly about someone before.

"Do you need help with your guitar?" he asked automatically, telling himself it was out of chivalry and not the desire to prolong his time with her.

"It's fine," she said happily. "I can get it. You've helped me out enough for one night, Bolton."

Trying to hide his disappointment, he replied with a simple, "Okay."

Gabriella turned around in her seat to open the door but paused, her hand stationary over the rusted handle. Troy's heart leapt up into his throat when she, on what was apparently a snap decision, leaned over and laid a soft kiss on his cheek. Her lips were deliciously warm and though the actual contact lasted only seconds, Troy could feel the imprint of them even after she had pulled away.

"Thank you so much, Troy. I'm going to be the best tutor you've ever had!" she told him with a twinkle in her eyes. Any animosity he'd been carrying around since the club seemed to disappear when he allowed himself to stare back into those shimmering pools of chocolate brown.

"I'm counting on it," he choked out, surprising himself with the ability of coherent speech.

"Night!"

Gabriella hopped swiftly down from the cab. Troy watched intently as she retrieved her guitar case from his trunk and bounced up the path to her door. Only when she stopped to wave goodbye did he snap out of his daze, not wanting to come off like a _total_spaz. He returned the gesture and before starting off on the road towards his house half a town away, Troy whispered, "Night, rockstar."

* * *

**Yeah... so... pissed at me yet, lol? Keep hanging on for the next chapter! It'll happen eventually.**

**Love, Jessa.**


	8. Close But No Confession

* * *

It was inevitable. Sooner or later, thanks to the monster of a history assignment doled out at the beginning of the week, Troy would have to enter the library. Normally this wouldn't have bothered him but he knew that just inside those doors someone was waiting for him. Gabriella spent way too much time in East High's library, in Troy's opinion. How was someone who was trying to stay away from her supposed to get any work done?

It sounded really mean when he thought of what he was doing like that, but there was no other way to describe it. Troy was offically avoiding Gabriella Montez and it was really troublesome for him. He was well aware that if he saw her, even for a second, all his decisiveness would go out the window. At least when he wasn't around her, he could _try_ to fool himself into believing that she wasn't so great. So far he'd been having very little success.

The purpose of this whole avoidance exercise was to protect his already beaten pride. What was the use of trailing after a girl, who mind you was completely gorgeous and wonderful, if she was just going to ignore you and fall for some musician? Troy would surely only end up embarrassing himself. He was frustrated to find, however, that just because he wasn't around Gabriella, didn't mean he could stop thinking about her.

With a heavy heart, he braced himself and entered the library, subconciously glancing around for that familiar head of glossy dark brown hair. Regretably, she was situated at a table very near the door and she happened to look up when she heard it slam shut. When she caught sight of Troy, she grinned and beckoned him over. He was helpless to resist.

"Hey, Troy," she chirped as he sank down in the chair beside her. "Where have you been hiding all week?" Troy was relieved to see that unlike the last time she thought he'd been avoiding her, she didn't look ready to axe murder him.

"Basketball got kinda crazy," he responded automatically. When in doubt, blame it on basketball.

She nodded in acceptance, placing a sympathetic hand on his arm. She clearly didn't realize how that one little touch could make his pulse race. Personally, he tried to ignore it.

"So, about tutoring..." Gabriella began, turning back to the worksheet she'd been immersed in before he'd arrived on the scene. "When do you want to start?"

Tutoring. Hours... alone... with Gabriella. Troy shuddered to think of the many ways that could go wrong. Telling her to forget about it might have been a more sensible plan but as he'd suspected, now that he was in her presence, it was kind of impossible to veto the chance to spend more time with her.

"Right. I'm good for any time after five on weekdays," he said.

Gabriella nodded, her nose scrunching up in a ridiculously endearing fashion as she tried to work out her schedule in her head. "Who am I kidding?" she asked herself after a moment. "The only time I'm busy is when I have a gig."

Troy rolled his eyes at her self-deprecation. How could she not see what he saw? Letting his eyes rake over her, he took in her full appearance for the first time in days. What he saw was a little out of the ordinary, in Gabriella's case anyways. She didn't look skanky -- Troy was almost sure that was not a remote possibility for her no matter what she wore -- but she was definitely letting go of some of her inhibitions. In the short time he'd know her, Troy had never seen her wear anything more than jeans and a cute top to school. Today she was wearing a dark-wash denim mini skirt with black boots and a long-sleeved black shirt that was edging on being low cut. Instead of her usual curly updo, her hair had been straightened and hung like a sheet of silk past her shoulders.

"With that outfit, you might not be able to say that for much longer," Troy commented flippantly. It was all he could do to keep from staring at her smooth legs.

Gabriella broke their eye contact, making his non-leg staring mission that much harder, and cast her eyes shyly downwards. Troy could tell she was blushing, even through the hair that she had let fall in her face.

"I didn't think anyone would notice..." she mumbled. "I just looked at all the lace and frills in my closet and felt like it was time for a change."

As much as he would have liked to delude himself, Troy Bolton was not stupid. He had a fair idea of what had set this change in motion. Mitch Heron was older, a little rough around the edges, so he'd probably be looking for someone who wore less pastel than Gabriella was prone to. There was no denying that she looked hotter, older and even slightly more sure of herself, but the sight of her appalled Troy somewhat. The fact that she felt like she needed to change for a guy, that she wasn't good enough exactly the way she was, made no sense to him.

"I think you're amazing the way you are," Troy said without really considering the words first. He probably wouldn't have taken them back even if he could have; Gabriella needed to know that a personal makeover was the last thing she needed.

Gabriella's eyes widened in surprise. "That's really sweet, Troy." Sighing, she continued, "I wish other people felt the same."

"Maybe those other people aren't ones you should be worrying about," Troy offered. The weak shrug he got in response caused a wave of rage, mainly towards Mitch, to roll over him, but it didn't last long. He could see he'd been defeated, at least for now. "So, you were saying something about tutoring?"

"When would you be up for it? And where do you think the best place would be?" she immediately asked, lunging at the chance for a change of subject. "We've gotta make sure you can stay focused," she teased. One of Troy's eyebrows arched up as he pretended to be less than amused.

"Very funny, rockstar," he said. "Let me worry about my attention span. Let's say Thursday, six o'clock, my house. And if you're worried about getting home, I'll drive you."

With a smile, Gabriella agreed. "That works for me." Her eyes took on a faraway look of someone deep in thought before she added, "Now I need to start a lesson plan..."

Troy chuckled at her blatant dorkiness. He thought it had to be the cutest thing since baby animals. "Lesson plan?" he questioned.

"I just like to be through," Gabriella explained defensively.

"Oh, sure. You're the boss, Miss Montez, ma'am." He smirked teasingly at her and Gabriella nudged his shoulder with her own.

"Make fun after you ace your next bio test," she retorted, a smug smile erupting over her lips.

Rolling his eyes, Troy said, "I wouldn't speak so soon. I'm not sure my head is programmed to absorb bio notes, no matter how spectacular of a teacher you may be."

"You can't be that bad. I bet I'll have you telling me all about homeostasis in no time."

There was a confidence in her voice that Troy just couldn't argue with so he settled for a weak nod.

"If you say so, rockstar. If you say so."

"Oh," she immediately replied. "I _know_ so."

He had to laugh at her playful egotistical side, forgetting for the moment that she was into another guy. When they were just talking and teasing like this, the rest of the world seemed to simply fade away. Troy couldn't concentrate on anything other than her, and he most certainly couldn't find it in himself to feel sad or angry for more than a second. Just like he'd predicted, any effort expended to avoid her had been wasted. He was as hung up on her as he'd been all along. The desire to tell her exactly how he felt was insanely strong, tugging at his heart whenever to took a breath, but he was just too damn unsure of himself. Even before she'd gone on her whole Mitch kick, she'd referred to them, in a tentative way, specifically as friends. What if that's all she wanted? If he couldn't be with her the way he wanted, Troy didn't want to make things awkward by putting the moves on her. Being only friends wasn't his first choice but it would have to do for now. Not being around her had made him almost a miserable as seeing her with someone else.

After a dejected sigh, Troy did what he could to push such thoughts aside. He had work to get done and he was sure that it would be even harder than usual to write a paper on the War of Independence with a beautiful brunette on the brain.

"So, oh Omnipetent One, can you direct a guy towards the history section?"

* * *

Standing at her locker, Gabriella was trying very hard to ignore all the stares from various students passing by. All morning, she'd been noticing a subtle change in the way her classmates were looking at her and it was making her uncomfortable. She wasn't positive, but she assumed that it either had something to do with her new edgier style or that fact that she was spending time with Troy Bolton. The latter was definitely the more likely option. People actually cared about what Troy did and did not do. They weren't so concerned with the activities of freaky math girls like Gabriella.

Little snippets of their conversations as they walked past confirmed her suspicions. Two cheerleaders had been so cliche as to glare at her and didn't bother to keep their voices down as they spoke. Gabriella almost wanted to stop them and call them out for furthering the bitchy, bubbly cheerleader stereotype.

"Look at her slutting it up for Troy. As if she had a chance," they sneered. "Did you know that she's head of the scholastic decathlon team? Geek city."

Gabriella could feel a lump rising in her throat. She wasn't used to having people trash talk her. Usually she stayed away from that kind of drama, keeping herself busy with books, schoolwork and, of course, her music. It was very unsettling the hear people that she didn't even know insulting and judging her.

Deep down, she knew those girls were just jealous. They thought she had something that they wanted, which was absurd. Troy Bolton could have any girl in the school. Like the cheerleader had said, Gabriella didn't really stand a chance. She just really liked being around him. He had an uncanny ability to make her smile no matter what and she felt comfortable when she was with him, like she could tell him anything and trust him not to laugh or spill it to the next person he saw.

Turning back towards her open locker, she busied herself with finding the textbooks she'd need for her next class. This exercise provided only minimal distraction value, but Gabriella was willing to take what she could get.

"Hey Gabs!"

"Tay!" Gabriella exclaimed, unusually happy to see a familiar face when she looked up.

"What's up, girl?" Taylor asked.

The two girls had been friends since the day Gabriella had moved to Albuquerque, finding common ground in their love of science and school in general. Where Gabriella was shy, Taylor was very opinionated. The brunette admired her friend's ability to just say what she thought without caring what anyone else might say in return. That being said, the quieter half of the duo would also always be there to reign Taylor in if she happened to go a bit overboard with her outspokenness.

One glance at Taylor's face told Gabriella that she'd heard the rumors about Troy. She looked uneasy, which was a distinct change from her usually unwavering confidence.

"We're not going out," Gabriella said, answering the girl's unasked question.

Taylor released a held breath. "I wasn't going to ask," she replied.

"Yeah right."

"Okay, I might have been wondering..." Taylor admitted, a sheepish expression on her pretty features.

Gabriella giggled faintly and said, "Don't you think that's the kind of thing I would mention to my best friend?"

"I thought Claire was your best friend," Taylor said, not missing a beat.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "You're both my best friends. You know I'd tell you if something huge happened in my previously barren love life."

"Previously?" Taylor asked. An enormous grin splitting across her face. "Meaning there _is_ something huge to share?"

"There might be," Gabriella divulged, unable to keep from beaming like an idiot. As expected, a long squeal broke free from Taylor's mouth before she could stop it, earning her a few strange looks from passers by. She didn't seem to notice.

"Do tell!"

"His name is Mitch and he's from Sunnydale," Gabriella told her excitedly. "We're going out this weekend."

Taylor clapped in a display of girly joy. "That's fantastic! Is he cute?"

"You have no idea," Gabriella gushed.

Taylor pulled Gabriella in for a hug, both of them jumping up and down as one jumble of arms and legs. When they pulled apart, however, Gabriella was surprised to see a rather serious look on Taylor's face. Considering her apparent happiness at the new development in Gabriella's relationship status, it seemed odd.

"So, what is going on with you and Troy then?" the darker skinned girl inquired. "You two have been hanging out lately, right?"

Unable to stem the flow of blood to her face, Gabriella flushed red. "Yeah, I'm tutoring him," she answered.

"And?"

"And nothing!"

Accompanying her words with a knowing look, Taylor said, "People don't usually blush quite so much over 'nothing'."

"We're kind of friends... what's the big deal?" Gabriella asked, now becoming a tiny bit annoyed. Why did everyone care so much?

"Friends with the basketball captain? Oh, no big deal at all," Taylor replied sarcastically.

Gabriella tried to think of a way to make her friend understand her new found connection with the blue-eyed popular boy. "He's not _just_ the basketball captain. I feel like there's more to him," she explained slowly, although she didn't just _feel_ like there was more to him. Gabriella knew that Troy had a lot more to give the world than skills on the court, it was just no one gave him a chance to prove it.

"That's deep," Taylor said, obviously still skeptical.

"I'm serious," Gabriella insisted. "He's actually a really nice guy."

Taylor absorbed her genuine expression with raised eyebrows. It would probably take more than that to convince her -- she had some sort of vendetta against people who played sports because they got more attention from the school than people in academic programs -- but she let it go for the moment.

"As long as you're sure. I don't want to see you get used and hurt by some bonehead basketball player," she finally said. If she hadn't sounded so concerned, Gabriella would have had something to say about her unfair assessment of a guy she didn't really know.

"We're just friends. I'm just doing him a favor. Nothing is going to happen," Gabriella reassured her.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Taylor smiled and reached down to yank Gabriella away from her locker by the arm.

"Come on, lover-girl," she joked. "We're late for class."

* * *

"Too... many... notes," Troy drawled, sluggishly casting Gabriella's biology notebook to the side. It was filled from front to back cover with her perfect, yet minuscule, handwriting. "Seriously, Gabs. How can they expect anyone to remember all this crap?"

Gabriella watched in amusement as he let himself fall back on his bed, where they were both sitting cross-legged with papers and books spread around them.

"I manage okay," she pointed out.

He shut his eyes and replied, "Yes, but most people's brains are half the size of yours."

"Actually, the size of your brain has nothing to do with--"

"Okay, okay!" Troy cut her off, springing back into an upright position. "No new information, please? Have mercy on my pitiful intelligence!"

"For the last time, Troy. You're plenty intelligent. You just have trouble concentrating," Gabriella said as though she were reciting a well-rehearsed speech. It wasn't the first time that night she'd conveyed some variation of that same message.

"Tell that to all my failed tests," he quipped, groaning at the memory of his dad's face when he'd brought home his last report card. Another mark like that, and he could kiss the outside world goodbye.

Troy got a start when Gabriella suddenly grabbed him, quite forcefully, by the shoulders. For one blissful second, Troy harboured the fantasy that she was about to pull his lips to hers, but his hopes were dashed when she just fixed him with a glare.

"Troy Bolton," she growled in a way that made him somewhat nervous. "You're going to pass this class if it kills me. I don't care how long I have to spend tutoring you."

A new, commanding side of Gabriella had emerged, brought on by an irresistible academic challenge. Troy could sense her determination and he was somewhere between frightened and hopelessly attracted to her on the scale of emotions.

"Right," Troy squeaked, his voice cracking under the pressure of her stare. Clearing his throat, he tried a second time. "Okay, let's do this." In order to negate further wrath, he snatched the discarded notebook back up and started to read. Half a term in, Gabriella gently removed the book from his grasp, her expression now thankfully back to it's usual mellow state.

"Can I ask you something, Wildcat?"

Her use of a nickname made his heart skip a beat or two. "Sure. Anything," he responded, perhaps a little too eagerly.

"You've been weird all week, and I don't think it's just basketball. Whatever it is definitely isn't helping you study," she said, ducking her head so as to avoid eye contact. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

There it was -- the perfect opportunity for Troy to let loose all his feelings. Gabriella was practically begging him to tell her the truth, nevermind the fact that she seemed completely clueless to the fact that he was crazy about her. Still, it was driving Troy up the wall and maybe she was right. Maybe just letting her know what had him so distracted would help him focus. Plus there was always a chance, however small, that she felt something for him and he'd tell her and they'd live happily ever after... but he wasn't holding his breath.

"Oh God," he murmured, causing Gabriella to look up curiously.

"What is it?" she questioned, subconsciously laying her hand on his leg. Unfortunately that only brought him closer to the edge of hyperventilating.

Sucking in a huge supply of oxygen in an attempt to stop his head from spinning, he took the plunge, "Yeah, so I don't know if this is going to totally weird you out or what but, I've got something really important to tell--"

The loud, shrill ring of a phone prevented him from continuing his heartfelt confession. Gabriella gave him an apologetic look and he realized that it was her cell phone that had cut him off.

"I'm so sorry!" she said in a rush as she rooted through her bag, finding her cell phone several seconds later. "I'll just be one second!"

Troy nodded feebly as she pressed 'talk'.

"Hey!" she greeted the person on the other end of the line enthusiastically. "Not much. Just at a friend's house."

And there it was again. That hideous word: friends. When Gabriella turned her back on him, still chatting away, Troy flopped backwards again, pulling one of his pillows over his face so she wouldn't hear his muttered string of curses.

Even through the thick pillow, Troy caught little pieces of his 'friend's' conversation. "Mitch! You know that's not true!"

Of course. That guy _would _be the one to interrupt him when he was about to spill his guts to the most amazing girl on the planet. Now the moment was gone, all because some idiot musician had the worst timing in the world.

* * *

**Yaaaay, another update under my belt! I tried to add some Troyella fluff to show you that all is not lost. It's me writing this, therefore Troyella will triumph in the end. Bet on it, bet on it. (I'm a dork.)**

**Also, I know some of you are pissed at how Gabriella's acting towards our boy Troy, but try to look at her situation objectively. She has no idea that Troy likes her AND the hot guy she's been crushing on forever has finally noticed her. Tell me you wouldn't do exactly what she's doing. So yeah, please cut her a break... for now at least. Dun dun dun dunnnn!**

**Thanks for reading! Next chapter coming soon and GO TO MY PROFILE AND CHECK OUT THE TRAILER AND BANNERS FOR THIS FIC! I just put them up!**

**Loooove, Jessa.**


	9. Mr Emo Bang

**ALL OF THE ABOVE, CHAPTER NINE! **

**DISCLAIMER: Troy, Gabriella and all things East High related belong to Disney. I just have no original thought so I snag them and mess around. Don't worry, Walt. I'll put 'em back...**

**THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! It makes the chaps come faster, even though it doesn't seem that way, haha. If I didn't get any reviews, you'd probably see an update every couple years or so... so, yeah. THANK YOOOU! **

* * *

Gabriella's room looked like a tank had driven through it. The normally spotless space was now littered with more clothes than her closet could hold. A mixture of her own clothes, as well as garments belonging to Claire, Mandy, Taylor and even her mom had been strewn about in her search for the perfect outfit. Tonight was her first date with Mitch and she was nervous beyond belief. She needed a look that would say she was mature and hard rock but in no way slutty. It was a thin line to walk and it certainly didn't help that she had no experience whatsoever in the feilds of fashion _or_ dating.

Finally, after about an hour of stressing, she settled on a pair of black skinny jeans, purple converse and a white three quarter length shirt with black sleeves, all of which belonged to Claire. For the finishing touch, she lined her eyes with black liner. When she peered at her reflection in the full length mirror, she didn't recognize the girl staring back at her. Somehow, she'd been transformed into a girl fit for a Rock God.

Satisfied with her appearance, Gabriella bounded down the stairs to wait in the living room, hoping the TV would take her mind of things. It was a pipe dream because although she watched the TV, her mind was somewhere else entirely. She was wondering if she'd be able to do this at all or if she'd just end up letting her nerves get the best of her.

The sound of the ringing doorbell jump started her heart, making it beat two times faster than normal. Breathing in and out deeply several times, which also wasted enough time to make it seem as though she hadn't been waiting by the door, she went to greet her date.

When she unhurriedly opened the door, she felt as though she'd stepped into one of her dreams. Mitch Heron was standing on her doorstep, looking insanely gorgeous, holding a small bouquet of daisies out for her. It was a miracle she managed not to faint.

"These are for you," he said, gesturing to the flowers.

She held in a girlish squeal, biting her lip which had curved up into a big smile. "Thank you. You really didn't need to do that..."

"But I wanted to," Mitch replied, matching her smile.

Gabriella realized then that she was just staring at him, holding the flowers tightly in her hand and probably drooling. Snapping herself out of it, she said, "Just let me put these in the kitchen and then we can go."

She stepped aside so that he could wait in her porch while she dashed to the kitchen and put the daisies in water, silently freaking out.

"Ready?" he asked smoothly when she returned, offering his hand for her to hold. She was conscious of every movement his fingers made when she accepted and slipped her hand into his. As they walked down her front path, she worried whether or not her hands were clammy as she tried to think of something to say.

"So, where are we going?" she asked hesitantly. Mitch released her hand so they could climb into his black jeep. It looked brand new and very large to Gabriella, who was of short stature under regular circumstances. The sight of it in her driveway was slightly intimidating; not at all like that of Troy's truck, which was old and friendly and no trouble to hop into.

Turning on the ignition, Mitch replied, "You'll see."

"Should I be afraid?" she questioned, half joking.

He turned to her after pulling away from the curb. "Very," he said. It seemed like he was teasing but Gabriella couldn't be sure. His dark eyes were hard to read.

* * *

After a slightly tense car ride, on Gabriella part anyways, the couple arrived at a nearby drive-in theatre. Gabriella had never been there before. She hadn't even known it existed.

"This is so cool," she gushed. "I didn't know places like these were still open."

Mitch grinned as he pulled into a space near the back of the almost empty lot. "It's the best kept secret in town. I come here all the time. They show a bunch of old movies that you can barely rent anymore."

"Awesome!" Gabriella said, before she realized that she was getting a tad girlish and flipped it down a notch. "What's playing tonight?" she inquired in a much more even tone.

"The original _Frankenstein_ movie, circa 1931," Mitch replied, twisting off the ignition. "Is that cool? We could go somewhere else if you want."

Gabriella shook her head adamantly. Sure, she wasn't a huge fan of horror movies but she wasn't opposed to them either. After many a sleepover with Claire, who just adored the horror genre, she had been mostly desensitized to blood and gore. And seeing as the movie had been made in the thirties, it's scare-factor probably wasn't going to be that high.

Mitch seemed pleased with her response. "You're quite a girl, CJ."

The compliment should have made her get that warm tingly feeling deep in her stomach but the use of her alias just caused her gut to twist with guilt as she tried to smile graciously.

"Wait here, babe," he said, thankfully oblivious to her unease. His new nickname did bring back some measure of the tingles she'd been waiting for. "I'll go get us some popcorn."

Sighing contently, Gabriella watched him saunter over to the concession stand. She was still having trouble believing that she was actually on a date with him. Since arriving on the music scene and catching sight of him, Mitch had always seemed so untouchable to her; something that could only be admired from afar but was definitely not in her league. Hearing him refer to her as "babe" was surreal.

She was forced to return to earth when the sound of her cell phone ringtone invaded her thoughts. Wondering who it could be, she dived her hand into her pocket and fished it out. Troy's face -- complete with his megawatt smile -- beamed up at her from the illuminated screen and made her smile as well. What could he be calling her about?

"Talk to me," she answered in a low voice that was meant to mimick Troy's. She always made fun of his trademark telephone greeting when he called her.

"That gag gets funnier every time to pull it, rockstar," Troy replied sarcastically.

She giggled, imagining his no doubt dour expression, and said, "You know you're secretly going to laugh about it later on. So, to what do I owe this unexpected honour?"

There was a pause on Troy's end. "I was just wondering when you wanted to get together for tutoring next week," he said. Gabriella was puzzled as she'd just assumed they would be meeting same time, same place.

"I figured we'd established a regular schedule," she responded. "How about every Thursday evening from here to exams? Just so we're on the same page. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, that sounds great... I mean, 'cause I want to pass and stuff..."

Troy's currently spastic behavior was entertaining for Gabriella. "Ooookay, then we've got strategy. Those bio tests don't stand a chance," she assured him. "Was there anything else you wanted?"

"Aren't we short of patience tonight? Why? Am I keeping you from something?" Troy asked with a hint of good natured teasing.

Laughing, Gabriella said, "You might be, no offense. Talking to you is a lovely treat but I happen to be on a date at the moment."

Gabriella expected another glib comment to immediately follow but was surprised when there was only silence on the line. Her embarrassment quickly mounted, already on high alert, ready for something to go wrong with her first real date.

"Troy?" she asked tentatively.

Eventually he cleared his throat, confusing Gabriella further because she had come to realize that this was something he did only when he was uncomfortable.

"Yeah. Sorry to keep you. I'll talk to you later, Gabriella," he replied in an oddly monotone way before a sudden click signalled his termination of the call.

"What the heck was that about?" she whispered to herself, staring blankly at her phone for a brief period before finally pressing "End".

The sound of the driver's side door being pulled open startled Gabriella out of her Troy-related musings and made her jump slightly in her seat. Of course, it was only Mitch returning with popcorn but she smiled in relief all the same.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," Mitch said with a bit of a grin. "You okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah," she responded, attempting to gain back her high spirits. Troy's phone call had thrown her more than she liked to admit. Sometimes -- not often, but sometimes -- she just didn't get him. There were moments when it felt like they were the only two people in the world and then others when it seemed like he needed to get away from her as fast as humanly possible. It was weird.

But that night was about Mitch, not Troy. She fought the urge to wonder what had him so spooked and tried to concentrate on the way Mitch's arm felt around her shoulder or the way he copied Frankenstein's creepy voice and crossed his eyes, making the whole movie watching experience that much more entertaining. Gabriella was really having a good time but deep in the recesses of her mind, there was a nagging feeling that something important was missing.

* * *

"She's on a date! A fricking date! With Mr. Emo Bang..." Troy vented, taking a break from a long stint of pacing to throw himself down onto Chad's messy bed. For once he was too preoccupied to comment on the piles of dirty clothes towering around him.

Chad was slumped in his computer chair, paying next to no attention to his best friend's woes. His eyes were glued to the TV on his dresser as he attempted to beat the last level in Mortal Combat. Troy had been ranting on about that Gabriella girl for the past forty-five minutes, spewing all kinds of insults directed toward some musician that she seemed to have a thing for. Seeing that he had been slowly working his way towards a fabulous video game victory, Chad was a tad fuzzy on the details.

Every now and then, he'd toss in some obligatory form of comfort like "That sucks, dude." or "Yeah, he sounds like a tool.".

Fifteen minutes later, Chad had beaten the final boss and now had nothing to distract him. It didn't take long for him to explode.

"Look, man. You've gotta give this up! It's not like you're going out or anything. You've known her for like a month. She _is_ allowed to date other guys."

"You don't understand!" Troy sputtered, standing in order to pace the floor again.

"Why don't you explain it to me then," Chad said with rolling eyes.

"I... I, um, can't?"

"Uh huh."

"Seriously! I told her I wouldn't..." Troy vaguely explained as he ran a hand through his sandy blond hair, unaware that he now had Chad's full attention. Once there was a secret involved, especially one that he didn't know, Chad was fully on board.

"How am I supposed to be sympathetic when I don't know the full story, dude," he reasoned.

Troy eyed him suspiciously, Chad's sudden interest baffling him. "She's just... different," he settled for saying, much to his best friend's chagrin.

"I'm not even going to think about the million 'different' ways I could take that statement."

With a glare, Troy replied, "I can almost guarantee that your mind is headed in the wrong direction."

"Seems pretty right to me," Chad said, a dream-like state now taking him over. "That girl is easy on the eyes..."

"Hey! No imaginary lap dances from the girl I've got the hots for!" Troy exclaimed while whacking him across the head. His ridiculous choice of a hairstyle cushioned some but not all of the savage blow.

As he rubbed the quickly forming bruise on his skull, Chad said, "Whoa, dude. I was just playing."

"I know. I'm sorry, man. I'm just not sure what to do here. I've never felt this way about anyone before," Troy lamented, sinking down onto the bed again, this time calm enough to wrinkle his nose at Chad's lack of laundry initiative -- even in the midst of his teen angst.

Staring intently at the guy who had been his partner-in-crime since preschool, Chad felt a wave of compassion wash over him. Troy looked like a lost puppy; completely hopeless. It was something Chad had never before witness from his usually upbeat -- albeit slightly sarcastic -- friend.

"You've really got it for this girl, don't you? I mean, _really_ got it." he commented, finally displaying the understanding that Troy had been waiting for.

Troy sighed. "I'm afraid so."

Both boys then slipped into a comfortable silence, trying to keep up with their racing thoughts. Of course, Chad broke that silence when he suddenly asked, "How'd you know I was thinking of a lap dance?"

"Chad..." Troy said with a smirk. "You're _always_ thinking about lap dances."


	10. Too Far

**ALL OF THE ABOVE, CHAPTER TEN!!**

Gabriella was simply sitting in the computer lab, minding her own business, attempting to finish off an assignment for English class, when somebody decided it would be a good idea to scrape a chair across the floor and sit right next to her. She didn't have to glance away from the computer screen to know exactly who it was. These little visits from Troy were getting more and more frequent. If she didn't enjoy his company so much, it might have been a problem.

"Shouldn't you be in class, Wildcat?" she questioned, just as she always did when he sprung up in the middle of the school day.

"Maybe," he replied innocently. "But where's the fun in that?"

With a sigh, Gabriella ceased typing and turned towards him, trying very hard not to smile. Skipping class -- to her at least -- was a serious issue. "What's the point of me tutoring you if you're not even going to bother going to class?"

Troy shrugged. "I only have Woodworking class, Gabs. Chill," he advised, leaning back in his red plastic chair. "I'm well aware that you'd murder me if you found out I skipped Biology."

Knowing that pressing the importance of each and every class on his schedule would do no good, Gabriella settled for another sigh as she returned to her assignment. Comfortable silence set in around the two students as she typed and Troy, with his arms folded behind his head, dozed in and out of reality.

Out of the blue, Troy broke the silence, his eyes still shut as he asked, "Sooo, have you heard of this Talent Show they're having next month?"

Gabriella stopped typing abruptly, fairly certain she knew where Troy was taking this line of questioning.

"Why do you ask?" she said suspiciously.

"Just wondered... you know, 'talent' shows are good places for people with talent..."

Gabriella exhaled nervously as she pictured playing in front of a crowd of familiar East High students. "I'm not ready for that just yet, Troy."

"Fine, fine. You'll cave eventually, rockstar," he informed her before switching gears. "Do you have a gig this weekend?"

"Why?" Gabriella giggled. "Are you going through Gem withdrawl?"

He blushed slightly and replied, "I was going to ask if you wanted a ride so that Mandy wouldn't have to haul her butt all the way over here."

His thoughtfulness made a smile break out across her lips. "Well, I'm sure she'd appreciate that. I would too. She's not exactly the world's best driver. She makes Sharpay Evans look like a Driver's Ed instructor."

"Sharpay Evans almost ran down Principal Matsudo yesterday," Troy commented, deadpanned, pulling himself into a sitting position.

"I know," Gabriella said. "You'd think that would be as bad as driving could get but, as usual, Mandy brings her own little bit of flair to things."

Shaking his head, Troy pushed aside an amusing image of Mandy barrelling down the quaint suburban streets of Alberqurque. "Which night are you playing?"

"Friday. Are you sure you don't have something better to do, basketball boy?"

Gabriella's tone was joking but somewhere inside she was nervous. Did Troy really like spending time with her? He seemed to but one could never be sure. They'd grown to be fairly close friends in the small time that they'd known each other and sometimes she still had trouble wrapping her head around the concept. Every now and then, she'd seek reassurance from Troy. So far he hadn't failed to provide it.

"Please. I'm preparing for the day that you're rich and famous and I can mooch off you," he kidded. "I'll be able to say, 'I knew her when she was still a small town girl! I used to drive her to her shows!'." Troy imitated his future self quite dramatically, both of them laughing together at his ridiculousness.

"Well, I'll be sure to set aside a room in my twelve story mansion for you, Wildcat," Gabriella promised.

"What? I don't get my _own_ mansion!?" he demanded, teasingly appalled.

Just then, the bell rang, breaking up their silly moment. They stood in sync and headed for the door. Other students pushed past them, irritated by their comfortable pace.

Troy stopped just outside the door. "So, I'll pick you up at six-ish on Friday. Cool?"

With a nod, Gabriella replied, "Very cool. Thanks, Troy! I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Die in a horrible car crash?" he offered.

Gabriella shrugged. "More then likely."

* * *

On Friday night, Troy and Gabriella entered The Bronze side by side, chatting even above the music pumping through the air. By now Troy was quite used to the club and no longer felt out of sorts there, especially when he had Gabriella next to him. She knew most of the people they passed from playing there so often and gave anyone who greeted her a friendly -- and gorgeous -- smile as she kept up their conversation about, oddly enough, mini golf. Troy was horrified to hear that Gabriella had never played and made a vow to see to it that she would in the near future.

Mandy and Claire, who had been seated at a table, spotted the pair when they were about halfway towards the stage area and immediately made their way towards them.

"If it isn't Beauty and the Beast," Mandy quipped when they crossed paths. "How're you guys doing?"

"Be nice, Mands," Gabriella chastised.

"Who says you're not the Beast?" the tall girl retorted, a smirk playing around her mouth. Gabriella snorted and proceeded to hug her two friends. To Troy's surprise, Mandy and Claire also gave him a dual hug as Gabriella looked on, her eyes bright with amusement.

"I'm a lucky, lucky man," he quipped though he was a bit red in the face from the attention.

Claire laughed. "And don't you forget it."

"You're an honorary Gem now, Jock Boy! God knows, you cart Gabi around enough," Mandy said.

"Oh, joy. I'm an honorary member of an all-girl band..." Troy's toothy smile let the girls know that they shouldn't be insulted by his sarcastic remark. "You okay, rockstar?" Being as hyper aware of the brunette as he was, Troy noticed straight away that she was slightly distracted. Her head kept whipping around, scanning the crowd for something unexplained.

"...What?" she murmured, still looking around. "Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just... have you girls seen Mitch tonight?"

Claire's forehead creased as she apparently tried to remember. "Not so far. Why?"

"He said he'd be here tonight... to see us play."

Restraining the urge to roll his eyes at the mention of his self-proclaimed arch enemy, Troy wrapped an arm around Gabriella's tiny shoulders and made an attempt at being a best friend as opposed to a jealous freak who was madly in love with the currently unattainable girl of his dreams.

"Don't worry. He'll be here, Gabi," he said softly. "You guys aren't due to be on for another few minutes anyways."

Unbeknownst to everyone who wasn't him, Troy was already planning ways to kill Mitch if he dared stand Gabriella up. Even though he really wanted her for himself, Troy wasn't selfish enough to want her to be hurt in order for him to get his way. Maybe that was his problem. Doing the right thing could really be a pain the ass sometimes.

* * *

To say that Gabriella was off in her performance that night would have been an understatement. It irked Troy that it mattered so much to her to have Mitch there. He wanted to be the one she needed to have around, not Emo Boy. If the guy couldn't be bothered to show up to her show, what kind of boyfriend would he make?

From his usual table near the back, Troy watched Gabriella's face intently. She went through the motions of strumming her guitar and singing the lyrics to the songs but it was easy for him to tell that her heart wasn't in it, especially when he compared it to all the other shows he'd witnessed. She kept looking out into the crowd like a lost little puppy. It broke Troy's heart. Didn't Mitch realize what he had? He had something that Troy would practically kill for and he seemed to be taking it all for granted.

Then, to Troy's surprise, Gabriella's face suddenly lit up. Blood boiled in his veins as it took him three seconds to figure out why. Mitch and a couple members of his emo posse had just walked through the door. He had made it in time for the very last song of them Gems' set. Yup, he was definitely a keeper. Oddly enough, his tardiness didn't seem to be upsetting the lead singer, although Troy noticed that her bandmates looked less then impressed. No, Gabriella looked downright tickled that Mitch had taken time out of his busy schedule to show himself.

The final song the girls played that night oozed with energy that the audience, who hadn't realized until then that the Gems had been holding out on them, sucked it up greedily. It was a hit to his dignity but Troy couldn't take his eyes off the magically-recharged Gabriella. He wished he could quell the tingles her fiery eyes and low, honest singing voice ignited inside him but against his will, his breath caught in his throat as she made the last refrain of the song count.

'This is freaking pathetic,' he moaned inside his head.

"Hey," Troy heard a strange female voice greet him from behind as his eyes were busy tracking Gabriella's progress off the stage.

A few seconds later, after the object of his unrequited affections had disappeared amongst the crowd, Troy turned to see who had noticed him sitting there alone like a loser. A girl he was sure he'd never seen before had taken the stool beside him while his back was turned and now had her head propped up on her hand as she leaned against the table, looking utterly at ease with the world in general.

One glance told Troy that she wasn't the kind of girl that usually talked to him or, as much as he denied it, tried to hit on him. She was slightly overweight, but not unattractively so, with a pretty face and extremely blue eyes. Her very long black hair was tied back in a messy ponytail and black liner surrounded her eyes, set off by electric blue mascara, something Troy had never seen used before. She wore a simple black t-shirt that was faded with age and had an obscure band logo across the front. Plain black skinny jeans were tucked into electric blue -- seemingly her color of choice -- high tops. In this quick survey, Troy thought he caught a flash of a tattoo that appeared to be a staff of music on the inside of her wrist but unlinke most girls her age -- Troy estimated seventeen or eighteen -- she wore not one piece of jewelry.

"Um... hi?" he responded awkwardly. Her motives for speaking to him were as of yet unclear.

His hesitance didn't throw her for a second. If anything, her light blue eyes twinkled brighter with repressed laughter. "I'm Nat," she told him.

"Troy..."

"I couldn't help but notice you making googly eyes at CJ," Nat began, as comfortably as one would discuss the weather.

'Great. Even strangers can see I'm head over heels...'

"What?" he asked, taken aback by her forward approach. She made Mandy look timid and shy in comparison.

Nat rolled her eyes, ignoring the basketball star's attempts at playing dumb. "All you need is a sign asking her to marry you and you'd be a full-blown groupie. I've seen you in here before."

Realizing that nothing was getting past his unexpected companion, Troy sighed. "I assume you have a point?" he said.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Nat question as if his answer really mattered to her.

A crease formed in his brow. Was he really going to talk through his love life issues with a complete stranger?

"I don't know!" he blurted out, his frustration with the whole thing past the breaking point.

Apparently pouring his heart out to a random person was exactly what he was going to do.

"Hmmm," Nat mused, tapping her index finger against her chin thoughtfully as Troy proceeded to bury his face in his hands. "It'll have to be done in a timely fashion, whatever it is." When Troy looked up, she gestured behind his head where, upon turning in his seat, he was met with the sickening sight of Mitch slinging his arm over Gabriella's shoulder.

"Stupid jerk," Troy mumbled, slinking back around in his stool.

"Don't I know it," Nat replied with a smirk. At Troy's inquiring look, she elaborated. "That stupid jerk is my older brother."

The smile, which had been absent the majority of the night, returned in full force to Troy's face. "A jerk? Really?" He sounded positively thrilled at the notion.

"Okay, not really," Nat amended with a shrug, causing Troy's face to quickly fall. "It's just easy to see that he's not as serious about CJ as you are."

"Do you think he'd hurt her?" Troy questioned, swallowing hard when he imagined it.

"Not intentionally, but you know how musicians are. Their heads are too far up their own asses to see the world around them."

Eyes narrowing, Troy forced himself to stare at the torturous scene before him -- Gabriella laughing at something Mitch had just said that was evidently hilarious.

"I like you, Sport. You seem like you know how to treat a lady, so, I'm gonna give you some advice," Nat said matter-of-factly. Troy couldn't help but laugh a little and while her eyes betrayed her mirth, Nat's expression remained business-like.

"Let's have it," Troy said, resigned to the fact that this girl was growing on him at an alarming rate.

"Just do it."

"Thank you, Nike," Troy said, rolling his eyes.

Nat returned the gesture much more effectively and replied, "I mean it! Just tell her how you feel, dude."

Troy couldn't help but come back with some sarcasm. "Yes, because it's absolutely that simple."

"It could be," Nat reasoned.

"I've tried but something always gets in the way," Troy confided in her. "And then I'm right back to square one."

"Then you've gotta be aggressive, man! A pussy attitude like that is going to get you nowhere," Nat exclaimed, whacking him over the head.

As Troy rubbed his hand against the now tender spot on his skull, he raised an eyebrow. "Pussy attitude?" he echoed.

"Listen," she went on, ignoring him. "You've got to get your butt up off that stool, march over there and carpe diem, my friend!"

"Carp what now?" Troy asked with a bemused expression.

A heavy sigh escaped Nat as she leaped up and grabbed onto his arm, yanking him to his feet.

"It's latin. It means 'seize the day', retard," she calmly explained. "Now let's go!"

Not quite sure what had just happened, Troy allowed himself to be steered straight for Gabriella. It wasn't until he got close enough to hear the conversation she and Mitch were having that he regained control over him own body and forced it to a halt, causing Nat to bump into him.

"What's the prob--?"

Troy cut her off with a harsh "shhh!" after he heard his name mentioned.

"What about Troy?" Gabriella was asking Mitch, obviously unaware that the basketball captain himself was a witness to their exchange.

"Why, Bolton! You just get all the ladies, don't you?" Mandy's voice rang out as she and Claire approached him. They got a start when both Nat and Troy pressed their fingers to their lips in unison and hushed them, turning quickly back to the matter at hand in order to hear Mitch's response. The back-up Gems' soon caught on and, though they didn't quite know what they were listening for, they huddled around Troy's shoulders with their ears perked up.

"How do you even know a guy like that?" Mitch questioned.

Gabriella seemed confused, even from several feet away. "A guy like what?"

"You know," Mitch drawled lazily. "A jock? He should be mindlessly flinging footballs for the home team, not chilling out to rock and roll. What's his deal?"

Troy could feel three sets of eyes on him, waiting for him to react. All he could think about was what Gabriella would say. She'd defend him... right?

* * *

Gabriella felt like she was split in two, her dual personalities vying for dominance. On one hand, she was Gabriella Montez -- the girl who loved the silence of libraries and doing science experiments for fun and only sang in the privacy of her own room. That girl walked with her head down in case of confrontation and definitely did _not_ date rock gods with sexy hair. She did, however, happen to know the _real_ Troy Bolton and she was screaming out, telling Gabriella to put Mitch in his place.

The other side of her -- the CJ part -- was the side that craved the applause garnered by a high energy performance. She was confident and talented and didn't fear the stage. In fact, she loved the attention it brought. CJ couldn't possibly be friends with a jock, not when there were other people around her, ones like Mitch, that understood her musical mentality.

But which part of her personality would come out victorious? As she stared wide-eyed at Mitch, who was anticipating her answer, she only had seconds to choose.

"I don't know. He saw me play once and then just kept showing up."

Speaking so impersonally about Troy made Gabriella feel as if she might throw up but Mitch, who obviously approved of her reply, chuckled. It made her feel almost... powerful to be able to incite that kind of reaction in a guy who normally had a certain amount of unflappability about him.

"So, CJ has a jock stalker. How poetic," he joked at Troy's expense.

A fake laugh, too raspy for her real voice, left Gabriella before she could prevent it. "Yeah, kinda creepy," she agreed.

It was as if she had no control over herself. Mitch's amused face urged her on, his attention going right to her head. She could hear these horrible things -- stuff she never in a million years thought she'd say about a friend -- leaving her mouth and she suddenly longed to grab them and shove them back down her throat. Guilt was instantaneous and pierced her insides painfully but somehow she managed to keep smiling, wondering if that had just been worth it.

"Hey, if he ever gets _too_ creepy, just let me know," Mitch carried on, fooled by Gabriella's feigned laughter.

"That won't be necessary."

"Troy!" Gabriella squeaked, praying to every God in the sky that he hadn't heard the whole thing. His stormy eyes indicated immediately that he had. Her heart dropped dangerously in her chest as the hurt that shone clearly from those pools of strangely dark blue brought her whole facade crumbling down around her. Mandy and Claire stood on either side of him, wearing identical expressions of disbelief and what Gabriella recognized with a pang as revulsion. Mitch's sister -- whom Gabriella had met several times -- was with them as well for some reason, grimacing at her from over Troy's shoulder as if she'd just killed a kitten in front of them.

"Troy..." Gabriella repeated, struggling for a way to explain herself.

"No," he snapped when she tried to reach out to him. The unusual severity in his tone caused her to pull back. "It's fine, _CJ_. You want me gone? I'm gone. Have fun walking home."

Clearly unable to look directly at Gabriella, Troy pushed past her and Mitch towards the exit. The impulse to follow overwhelmed Gabriella and she was just about to do so when Mandy grabbed her wrist quite roughly.

"Don't you dare," she hissed. "I think you've caused that guy enough damage for one night."

Gabriella blinked -- stunned -- and soundlessly obeyed. She'd never seen this side of the happy-go-lucky Mandy before.

Mandy's eyes flickered to Mitch. "I hope he's worth it," she muttered. The tall girl looked Gabriella up and down and scoffed, tossing her wrist away in disgust and leaving the same way Troy had gone.

Claire wasn't far behind, shaking her head sadly at Gabriella before she simply said, "Too far."

That disappointment from her best friend was the last straw. Gabriella felt tears of shame leak from the corner of her eye.

"I think the real question you should be asking, Mitch, is how a guy like that ever got tangled up with a biatch like her," Mitch's sister voiced the question that Gabriella couldn't help but ask herself. Nat aimed a glare at her brother and she too made herself scarce.

And so, Gabriella was left alone with a throughtly confused Mitch, which had been her goal in the first place. But was the expense paid for that luxury too high? It looked as though the Neon Gems were about to go on hiatus and she'd lost not one but three of her closest friends, all in one fell swoop.

It couldn't be denied -- especially not in her own mind; Gabriella Montez was no longer a crowd favorite. Not with the crowd that mattered to her the most.

* * *

**A/N: **Whew! Over 3500 words... that one was a doozy! I'm excited about all the flames I'm sure to get after that chapter. Don't worry though. Once you've hit rock bottom, the only place to go is up! PS -- Please be advised that Nat is NOT going to be a love interest for Troy. Nope, she's just there to mix things up with her humorous personality so don't be hatin'!


	11. Can't Fix This

**ALL OF THE ABOVE, CHAPTER ELEVEN!!**

It was almost three am, on a school night no less, and Gabriella was still awake. The acoustic guitar that had once upon a time belonged to her father laid across her lap, not having been touched in over an hour. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't write, she couldn't do anything but think about the look on Troy's face when he'd overheard her talking to Mitch. It was beginning to drive her mental. There was an awful empty feeling in her stomach that refused to cease. Not to mention the fact that there wasn't anyone for her to talk to about it, seeing that it was the middle of the night and the majority of her friends currently hated her guts.

A sigh of epic proportions left Gabriella as her brain pulled her through another review of the past couple days. No matter how many times she'd called Troy's cell phone, he never picked up. The millions of voicemails and text messages she'd sent him, not surprisingly, remained unreciprocated. It was killing her, the need to make things right with him burning so brightly inside, it had all but consumed her. She didn't blame him in the least for giving her the cold shoulder. In her opinion, she deserved that and more.

The thought of facing him in school in a few short hours was both frightening and relief. If she was right in front of him, how could he ignore her? On the other hand -- she was petrified that their previously blossoming friendship wouldn't survive the obstacle that she'd foolishly set before it. This wonderful, somewhat unprecedented, thing had just come into her life and she didn't want to lose it, no matter how stupid she'd been.

The only plus of the couple of days following the horrific incident at The Bronze was that Mitch had started calling and texting Gabriella on a regular basis -- although she didn't find it nearly as exciting as she'd once imagined it would be. Most of their conversations since that night had been more or less one-sided. The sacrifices made to gain such privileges prevented Gabriella from enjoying them fully.

There were so many emotions inside of her, in which case she would normally dispell them in songwriting, but suddenly she was blocked. One would think that with so much going on, she'd be churning out songs left and right. Gabriella couldn't understand why that wasn't happening. She assumed that she was having trouble concentrating long enough to come up with anything worthy of jotting down.

With a heavy heart, she gently set her guitar aside and leaned over to flick out her light. Sleep was almost a guaranteed impossibility but she had to try. Walking into school that morning was going to take all the energy she could muster.

* * *

_'I wonder what I could break that wouldn't mess with the way I play ball...'_ Troy pondered while he dressed for school on Monday morning.

It was overcast -- strange for New Mexico -- but that suited his mood just fine. After a sad attempt at faking sick, his mother had laughed at him and then, in a less amused fashion, told him to get his ass upstairs and get ready. Troy was often annoyed by how her mother's intuition busted him every single time. This time in particular, it more than annoyed him. That day it wasn't just about dodging a test or having an extra day for an assignment. It was a matter of pouring salt on the wounds created by the girl he loved. Troy was positive that seeing Gabriella would invoke feelings in him that he'd much rather ignore right then.

He'd spent the entire weekend repeating to himself that he hated her and that she wasn't worth his time but, dammnit, his pulverized heart refused to listen. The stupid thing ached for her still, even after what had happened. He didn't believe that she really thought he was just another dumb jock, but the fact remained that the person she strived to be should have thought so, which was in a way worse.

The silent treatment seemed to be Troy's only option. There was no other way he'd get through the whole fiasco.

As he climbed down from his truck, for once wishing that it's ancient engine had broken down again, Troy could feel nervous anticipation building second by second. Gabriella was in his homeroom; there was no escape.

"This should be interesting," he muttered to himself bitterly, taking his sweet time in reaching the glass double doors of East High.

* * *

Gabriella got to homeroom just after it had been unlocked by Miss Darbus, who seemed almost frightened by her eagerness. However, she didn't notice the odd look her teacher gave her -- the only thing there was room in her brain for was what she was going to say to Troy to try and win back his trust. Numbly, her mind so clearly elsewhere, Gabriella plopped down in her assigned seat and automatically took out her homework from the night before to go through her daily routine of checking it over. Every problem could have been wrong -- and most likely that was the case -- for checking it over was merely a reflex that morning. For the first time in her life, she honestly didn't care about homework.

When the early bell chimed, Gabriella's heart began hammering against her ribcage as she wondered if Troy would even show. Usually he would slip in just before the warning bell so it was likely that she wouldn't get to speak to him during homeroom, that is if he let her speak at all. As a firm believer in second chances, Gabriella was not above begging him for a chance to prove herself again should he simply tell her where to go.

A few minutes later, students began puring into the classroom, causing Gabriella's eyes to wander quickly across each and every face in search of those fabulous baby blues belonging to Troy. Her hopes sank when the familiar sight of him evaded her. The final bell chimed several agonizing minutes after that and though his basketball posse was seated comfortably in their normal spot at the front of the room, there was still no sign of Troy.

His friends didn't seem to be letting the absence of their ringleader bother them, continuously joking and chatting over Miss Darbus' call for attendance like it was just a normal day.

Near the end of roll call, there was a timid rap on the door before it was pulled half open, unveiling a sight that made Gabriella's ability to breathe disappear. Troy stood out in the hall, leaning slightly into the room, looking slightly worse for the wear. A deep pang in Gabriella's chest told her -- for the umpteenth time -- that she was a facsimile of a human for putting that lost look on his face.

"Ahhh, Mr. Bolton. A tad late, aren't we?" Miss Darbus questioned rhetorically, drumming her fingers menacingly against the back of her trusty clipboard.

Troy ducked his head and mumbled, "I'm sorry but I just came to let you know that I'm here. Coach Bolton needs me in the gym..."

Whether it was a lie or not, Gabriella couldn't tell while Troy's head was down. In either case, although their English teacher looked less then thrilled, she nodded curtly and waved him out the door.

Without the use of any sort of rational thought, Gabriella's hand shot up in the air, her only impulse to follow after Troy and fix the mess she'd made.

"Yes, Miss Montez?" Miss Darbus sighed. It didn't take a genius to see that her patience was on a steady decline.

Gabriella cleared her throat, buying herself time in her current plan of winging it.

"May I... use the washroom please?" she requested weakly, expecting an immediate lecture on how she should have used it _before_ homeroom commenced.

In an unforeseen turn of events, or perhaps the woman just wanted to make sure she had ample time to dictate to the class about the horrors of PDA, Miss Darbus granted her permission. "Make it quick," she dismissed her and a nanosecond later, Gabriella was out of her desk, bolting for the door. If anyone asked, she'd just have to tell them that she made the mistake of drinking a whole carton of orange juice with her breakfast.

Her sneakers squeaked on the tiled floor as Gabriella flew past row after row of lockers lining the wall. She hypothesized that Troy would likely go to the gym whether or not he'd made up the excuse about his dad or not so she made a sharp turn in that direction, slowing to a light jog when he became visible at the end of the hall.

It wasn't hard for her to gain on him, thanks to his funeral pace, and before long Gabriella was at his side. If he realized she was there -- which he must of considering the racket she made while running -- Troy didn't show it. He kept his pace subdued and his gaze resolutely on the floor.

"Troy?" Gabriella tested, dread filling her when he failed to acknowledge her presence. "Please. Will you just... hear me out? she pleaded pathetically.

Troy shook his head, not in response to her question but in a disbelieving sort of way. "I think I've head enough from you."

Having been fully prepared for a challenge, Gabriella continued speaking in spite of his obvious disinterest in what she had to say.

"I never meant to hurt you," she insisted. "I didn't mean what I said to Mitch. I have no idea why I said those awful things. We were just talking and things got out of control. Troy... I know we haven't known each other that long but I seriously consider you one of my best friends. I hate that I jeopardized that."

* * *

Friends.

The term mocked him at every turn and now, hearing them from Gabriella alongside the circumstances, it robbed Troy of his cool attitude towards her. Now he was just pissed.

"Best friends? Best friends!?" he spat back at her, disregarding the way she withdrew slightly. "I'd hate to see what you say about people you actually don't like. I don't know what more I could have done for you, Gabriella. I cared about you and talked to you about things I'm almost afraid to think to myself. I thought I could trust you, but I see now that was a definite error in judgement."

The damn had broken, resentment pouring out of Troy, stunning Gabriella into silence as she listened to his tirade.

"You know, it's ironic how the status quo you were so concerned about, the one that had you worried I would snub you, actually had the opposite effect. _You_ cared about what Mitch thought and _I_ was the one that got hurt. You're such a hypocrite. I guess all that recognition went to your pretty little head."

Troy could tell how deeply his comments cut at Gabriella and was surprised by how little satisfaction he gained from her pain. He was the wronged party and therefore felt as though he should've had the right to say what was on his mind. So why did he feel guilty about letting loose?

The best decision at the present time seemed to be putting as much distance between himself and Gabriella as the school would allow so his emotional defenses would actually hold. He couldn't let himself forgive her yet.

This time when Troy took off towards the large red gym doors, she didn't follow. Troy could have sworn that just before he let said doors swung shut with a loud bang behind him, he heard a sob ripple through the air.

* * *

Gabriella barely made it through the school day in one piece. Sitting in her seat, pretending to care about math was hard when all she wanted to do was cry. After their encounter that morning, Troy had obviously been avoiding her and Gabriella was starting to have her doubts as to whether things would ever return to normal. He seemed even angrier then she would have thought, which was a point of mild confusion. She'd expected him to be upset, and rightly so, but he was taking it to the next level of hurt.

She was just exiting East High at the end of the day, ready to go home and mope some more with her stereo blasting, when her cell phone buzzed in her front pocket. Holding on to a foolish hope that it might be Troy or one of the Gems, Gabriella fished it out -- quick as a flash -- and pressed the talk button.

"Hello?" she greeted the person on the other end tentatively.

"Hey CJ," came Mitch's smooth voice over the line, causing Gabriella's heart to sink. "How's it going?"

"Um, alright," Gabriella lied. "I just finished school for the day."

"Right, I keep forgetting you're still forced to go to that hellhole," he replied, laughing slightly at his own joke. Gabriella laughed as well but with much less enthusiasm. On most days, when she could actually concentrate on her lessons, she enjoyed going to school. Learning new things made her feel more fulfilled at the end of the day. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me tonight?"

If this had been a regular Monday, one in which she wasn't quite so depressed and her mother was in town, Gabriella would have been immediately inclined to say no. However, her mom had left for a week the day before, trusting Gabriella not to burn their house down while she networked for her company and as it was, she'd never felt more depressed in her life. Not even when she'd been forced to move away from Claire and Mandy.

"Did you have something in mind?" Gabriella inquired, trying not to sound as wary as she felt.

"A friend of mine is having a few people over tonight and it'd be pretty cool if you were one of them," he said, charm oozing from each syllable.

Gabriella was not so naive as to believe that when Mitch said 'having a few people over', he didn't mean 'my friend is having a party'. Mitch was nineteen and a musician to boot, which attracted a certain amount of rowdiness. She was also not stupid enough to think that there would be no drinking at this gathering regardless of it being a weekday or not. Mandy, Claire and herself had crashed a few parties thrown by people in The Bronze social circuit -- and incidentally some of the crowd Mitch palled around with -- and found them to be, at times, out of control. But that had been on weekends only; perhaps the fact that it was a Monday would result in a slightly tamer atmosphere.

Coming to that conclusion was really the only way Gabriella could fathom agreeing to Mitch's offer. Even then, her confidence was shaky.

"I don't know," she replied softly, unsure. "I _do_ have to come back to this hellhole tomorrow..."

"Don't worry. We don't have to stay that late if you don't want to. I just really want to be with you tonight," he pleaded. Of all the things Gabriella had thought she would hear in her lifetime, Mitch Heron begging to spend time with her was not one of them.

Although he still sensed hesitance on her part, it seemed Mitch wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Please, babe?"

Despite Gabriella's looming guilt and emptiness, a small spark of electricity thrummed through her body at the sound of a pet name.

_'Well,'_ Gabriella thought sadly as she glanced back at the now almost deserted school. _'I might as well make the most out of having only one person able to stand talking to me.'_

She knew in her heart it was a bad idea and would probably be more trouble then it was worth. She was also well aware of the fact that Troy would be on her mind the entire night, prohibiting her from having anything that resembled fun. Gabriella knew these things and yet she still agreed to go with Mitch, mostly because she couldn't bear the notion of being alone in her house the entire night, crying her eyes out over her guitar for the third night in a row.

"Okay," she murmured.

"Awesome! I'll swing by your place at around eight," he said, sounding genuinely pleased which in other circumstances would have made Gabriella smile.

"Cool," Gabriella whispered, not sure if he'd heard or not, before disconnecting.

What the hell had she gotten herself into?

* * *

**AN: This chap goes out to Bay-Bee32 for being eager for an update! I appreciate your reviews, chick. And that goes for everyone else as well. Thank you!**

**And thanks for being so patient. I'm the world's worst updater, fo realz. **

**Also, I urge you all to check out my new story, co-written with the mega-talented Kylie, called **_**My Best Friend's Hot!**_**Her username is CJ.xox.Dancerella and the fic is up in her profile. It's a whole lot of fun! ...I hope.**


	12. Owned

**ALL OF THE ABOVE CHAPTER TWELVE!!**

Gabriella hated alcohol. It turned perfectly reasonable people into slobbering idiots. She hated the taste, the smell and that dizzy sense of detachment it provided. Where most people enjoyed that ability to completely let loose, feeling as if she was completely out of control wasn't Gabriella's idea of a good time, especially in a house full of older people she barely knew.

As she'd suspected, Mitch's 'little get together' was a full blown, all-night bash with throbbing music and misdemeanors occurring around every corner. Upon arriving, hoards of partiers greeted Mitch enthusiastically and she was introduced to them as his new girlfriend. Instead of a sense of pride filling her at this new title, his assumption made Gabriella feel somewhat uncomfortable. They hadn't even talked about their relationship progressing beyond dating yet, let alone having him ask her out properly.

The two of them made their way slowly to the back of the large suburban house currently being trashed, where there was a sizable and -- probably, under normal circumstances -- very nice kitchen. Several kegs had been set on the counter top with people crowding eagerly around them as they waited for refills.

"I'll get us drinks, just sit tight," Mitch said above the noise of the party. After a light kiss on the cheek, he headed off towards the beer without waiting for her response, the sea of people parting for him like he was the young, hot version of Moses.

A lump formed in Gabriella's throat as she contemplated her surroundings. How was she going to refuse the drink Mitch was bringing her in a diplomatic fashion? All around her, teenagers were sucking back beer like it was water, seemingly having the time of their lives. It hit her then that she had no desire to join them. The stupid grin on the face of the girl next to her as she pressed up against a seedy looking guy that she likely wouldn't remember in the morning made Gabriella sick to her stomach.

Was this what she had given up all her friends for? The right to party all night, making a total fool of yourself in the process, and wake up the next morning with vague memories of the night before? She'd wanted this whole lifestyle so badly and now she just wanted to run in the other direction -- away from Mitch and his lame idea of a good time.

To Gabriella, a good time included writing silly songs with Mandy and Claire or expressing herself onstage, not because you'd drank too much to realize what you were saying. She had fun gossiping -- and at times having a bitchfest about whatever was bothering them -- with Taylor or engaging in pointless yet irresistible banter with Troy while she forced Biology notes down his throat.

Maybe to Mitch and his friends, all that would seem immature -- not at all fit for a true rockstar -- but it suited Gabriella just fine. If she wanted to write music and stay home watching movies with her mom on a Saturday night, who the hell had made a rule saying she couldn't?

By the time Mitch returned to her side, Gabriella was properly disgusted with the entire situation -- with herself, with him and just people's warped perception of coolness in general. She saw now that Troy had been so very right in his comment to her about the status quo.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Get your sorry ass out of bed, Sport!"

Troy shot up from where he'd been sprawled on his mattress since grudgingly finishing dinner two hours earlier.

"Nat?" he questioned warily, baffled as to how the lovably obnoxious girl would have gotten a hold of the number to his cell phone which he held to his ear.

"No, its Santa Claus," her sarcastic voice responded. "Of course its me!"

"Um, how'd you get my number?" he asked as he rubbed his face in tired disbelief.

"There's not very many Boltons in the Albuquerque phone book, you know," she immediately informed him.

Troy frowned. "Cell numbers aren't listed in the phone book..."

"Yeah, you might want to speak to your mother about handing out your number to random crazies."

"Fantastic," he muttered, more out of general grumpiness then actual annoyance. He was sort of happy to have someone to talk to. "What can I do for you?"

"Its more about what I can do for you and your wallowing self," she said.

"I'm not wallowing!"

"Let me guess -- you've been lying in your bed all afternoon, staring at the ceiling and listening to the Backstreet Boys: Greatest Hits CD. That's wallowing, buddy."

"B-backstreet what?" Troy sputtered. Besides the CD part, he was sad to say that she'd hit the nail on the head.

"Okay, Nickleback. Whatever. It's still pathetic." One could almost hear her eyes rolling.

"What do you suggest?"

"A party?" she replied hopefully.

"It's Monday night," he reminded her.

"And your point?"

Troy flopped back down, already able to tell that this argument would lead no where. "I"m going to this stupid party, aren't I?" he asked, resignation heavy in his tone.

"Yup."

"Just let me think of something to tell my parents," he sighed, finally leaving the comfort of his bed.

Nat gave a little squeal before responding. "Awesome! You've got a car, right?"

Even after steadily attending weekend shows at the Bronze, Troy still didn't overly enjoy the party scene but if nothing else was working as a distraction -- not even his father's rigorous basketball training schedule -- it might be just what he needed.

"Just tell me your address."

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Bored was something of an understatement for Gabriella current situation. Sitting in a corner on an uncomfortable kitchen chair, pretending to sip on a beer -- that, to be honest, smelled disgusting to her -- while Mitch became steadily drunker and talked the ears off everyone in a ten foot radius, Gabriella was practically falling asleep. No one seemed to notice her lack of interest or enthusiasm; they were all too far gone to care. She appeared to be the only sober person in the entire house.

"Kurt Cobain's lyrics just spoke to me, you know?" Mitch slurred to some guy who looked way too old to be at the party, both of them talking animatedly as one could when so inebriated about one of Mitch's self-proclaimed influences.

"Excuse me a sec," Gabriella mumbled, barely warranting a passing glance from her escort as she left her seat with the intention of finding the bathroom and -- more importantly -- a little piece and quiet.

There was a line outside the bathroom door when she finally located it but Gabriella didn't mind waiting in the slightest. At least, when she was standing there alone, she didn't have to pretend to care about a guy who had only known power chords and wrote most of his nonsensical songs whilst high on drugs. Once she'd actually gotten her turn in the bathroom, she spent far longer then necessary inside, considering she was simply sitting leaning against the marble counter and imagining numerous other ways she could be spending her evening.

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Nat's incessant chattering -- hindered only when she was required to give Troy directions -- was soothing in the small space of his truck's cab. The only problem was that his mind kept wandering back to Gabriella; she used to sit in the exact same place and speak with the same sort of giddiness, usually bouncing in her seat with the excitement of a pending performance. The similarities tugged painfully at his heart.

Luckily he couldn't dwell on it for long as they rounded a corner of a Sunnydale street and arrived at a large house where festivities were blatantly going down. People were scattered all over the lawn and even from inside the truck, music could be heard, pumping from some source inside.

"You don't expect me to get drunk, do you?" Troy asked nervously. "Because we both have school tomorrow."

"Please. I come here solely because it's entertaining to watch _other_ people get drunk off their asses. You think I want some creep putting the moves on my sexy intoxicated self? _Not_." With that, Nat jumped down from the cab and launched herself towards the door, pausing long enough to roll her eyes at Troy's hesitance. "Come on, Sport! We're burning moonlight here!"

Chuckling ever so slightly, Troy followed slowly, intimidated by all the strange faces around him. Just like his first few times in the Bronze, eyes lined with black liner appraised him with distaste and confusion. He suddenly regretted wearing his Wildcats hoodie.

"I know he's smokin' hot people, but it's fucking rude to stare!" Nat bellowed, poking a random guy at least twice her height in the shoulder as she passed. Immediately everyone seemed to be looking the other way.

Rocking up into the entryway, people greeted Nat warmly. It was evident that she was a regular attendee of such events.

"Hey kiddo!" one guy called out, going out of his way to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"You're quite the popular one," Troy observed and instinctively shuffled closer to her as if the friendly aura around her was contagious.

Nat shrugged. "When Mitch Heron is your big brother, people tend to suck up to you," she replied and Troy thought he caught a hint of bitterness buried in there somewhere as his jaw flexed involuntarily at the name of the guy who'd helped make his life what it currently was -- miserable.

"Troy?"

The voice was colored with astonishment and hard to pick out above the insanely loud rock music and even louder party-goers but it was still unmistakable.

Please, merciful Buddha, please let it be a mirage...

But, sadly, Buddha was blind to Troy Bolton's plight for when he turned to investigate, Gabriella was emerging from a small hallway crammed with people.

"Oh crap," he heard Nat grumble from somewhere around his left shoulder. "Did my brother bring you here?" she asked, the question was spoken louder so it could carry over to the brunette. This time she made no effort to conceal the bitterness she felt.

Gabriella nodded mutely, her eyes refusing to leave Troy -- who, in contrast, couldn't bring himself to look directly at her.

"Can we go, Nat?" he managed. He really didn't think he could stand witnessing Gabriella and Mitch all over each other.

Nat's whole demeanor had shifted in seconds from constant kidding to protective and concerned.

"Absolutely," she replied with uncharacteristic softness, placing a hand on Troy's elbow to remind him that he wasn't alone.

"Troy... wait," Gabriella pleaded, unleashing the full force of her big brown eyes on him.

Neither Troy nor Nat had time to say anything -- though is was obvious from her expression that the latter had a snarky comment on the tip of her tongue -- as they were interrupted by a drunken demand.

"What the fuck are you doing with my sister, Stalker Jock?"

Rather then looking the least bit worried, as some people in her position might have done, Nat only appeared to get more pissed off at the entrance of her brother, her rate of eye rolls reaching an all time high.

"Oh joy. The idiot's drunk," she said wryly.

Gabriella's eyes darted between the two boys; it was clear that she wanted nothing more then to have the world end right that second. Much to her dismay, Mitch stomped ungracefully closer to her favorite basketball captain.

"I asked you a question," he hissed, somehow managing to sound venomous despite his condition.

Gabriella ventured forth, discretely placing herself between him and Troy.

"Leave him alone, Mitch."

"He's a big boy, CJ. I'm sure he can stick up for himself," Mitch ground out through clenched teeth before returning his attention back to his previous target. "What? Were you mad that your not-a-girlfriend liked me better so you decided to get even by making time with my little sister?"

Nat scoffed indignantly. "What are you, still in junior high? This may come as a shock to you, _Mitchell_, but for once something in life is not about you."

"Shut up, Nat. I'll get to you later. I'm sure Mom would love to hear about this."

His sister was silent but the raven-haired rocker still wasn't rattled; no sign of real concern showed in her face. She merely looked exasperated, like someone who'd been in the same situation more then once.

"Don't talk to her like that," Troy warned, his loyal side flaring up. "You have no idea what you're talking about. I didn't even know you'd be here."

Mitch was less then convinced.

"Your constant presence in my world is beginning to bother me," he said, words flowing slightly together. "You're like a cockroach that refuses to die. I thought CJ made it clear the other night that you make her uncomfortable."

By this point, Troy was absolutely livid. He could barely hear the bile that Mitch was spewing off because his pulse was thudding so damn loudly in his ears. He'd never been prone to violence, though many guys at school had attempted to start something with him and make a name for themselves. No, Troy had always managed to rise above their provocation. That night was a different story because he was sure that if he had that self-centered jerk in his sights for another second, something within him would snap and both of them would be going home bruised. As if she could sense his internal struggle, Nat subtly nudged him in the direction of the front door.

"I can catch a ride home with someone else, Troy," she told him before he could argue.

"Yeah, get out of here," Mitch said. "And don't let me see you around my little sister again."

Nat's eyes -- usually light blue -- darkened considerably, anger clouding their luminance. "Would you stop being so fucking stupid for five seconds?" she spat at him.

Not wanting the situation to escalate any further then it already had, Troy took off for the exit. He was slightly miffed that Gabriella had only made one very feeble attempt to keep her drunken_ boyfriend_ -- Troy shuddered internally at the term -- at bay. If she cared as much as she claimed to about their friendship, it might have been beneficial to be a tad more aggressive since Mr. Emo Bang was way out of line. It only stoked the fire his rage was feeding inside him as he quickly hopped into his truck. He fleetingly worried that Nat wouldn't get home safely but fury replaced it almost immediately when he realized that her wonderful big brother would absolutely make certain she'd arrive home in one piece.

Whilst speeding down the highway back towards home, Troy seriously considered cutting off all contact with the outside world. By and large, in his current opinion, people were jerks.

* * *

In the aftermath of Troy's hasty departure, Nat soon made herself scarce, muttering death threats against her brother as he swayed back and forth on the spot. Gabriella stood a foot or so away from him, unable to process exactly what had just unfolded before her eyes. The shock of seeing Troy there had been one thing but then to have such a tense confrontation occur; her mind was now spinning. One thing had just become very clear to her, however -- whatever sort of relationship she had with Mitch needed to come to a screeching halt.

She felt horrendously guilty as most of Mitch's misconceptions about Troy and his intentions had been formulated by false information she'd given him. But what he'd done with that information made him out to be quite an idiot. And she didn't want to waste her time with idiots. She wanted to be associated with good, sensible guys like Troy.

"Can you believe that guy!?" Mitch cried after a moment, his hand movements severely exaggerated as a result of the alcohol he'd consumed.

Gabriella coughed lightly and replied, "Actually... I can."

The switch in Mitch's facial expression was mildly amusing. His mouth fell open with the surprise of having someone disagree with the word of the Rock God.

"W-what?"

"You're wrong about Troy," she said with conviction. "Which -- to be fair -- is mostly my fault, but he's an amazing guy and I don't give a damn if he's a jock. He's ten times the guy you are."

Mitch couldn't even string together a coherent sentence, not that Gabriella gave him much of a chance. It felt like such a relief to finally tell him exactly what she was thinking instead of fretting over whether she was acting mature or mysterious enough to suit his liking.

"Okay, Mitch... my name's not CJ, it's Gabriella Montez. I just came up with that stupid alias to get over my stage fright. I love school and, not to brag, but I have an IQ of 123. I'm actually co-captain of East High's Scholastic Decathlon team. You know what else? I tell my mom _everything_. We're super close," she reeled off. Once she'd begun, she couldn't stop. "And Troy's not a stalker. He's one of the best friends I've ever had so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't speak so rudely to him."

"CJ... w-what?"

In his drunken stupor, nothing seemed to be making very much sense to Mitch.

"I know you think you're awesome because you're so hardcore and everything and the idea of someone breaking up with you is probably laughable for most people but, even though you didn't officially ask me out, I don't think we should see each other anymore. I can't be myself around you and... that's not right."

As soon as the words left her mouth, there was no doubt in Gabriella's mind that it was the right thing to do. She almost couldn't comprehend how she'd deluded herself this long and how she ruined her relationship with Troy for the guy standing in front of her -- a guy who could barely tell that he'd just been owned and dumped.

Mitch blinked stupidly before stammering, "Yeah, well... you'll regret this tomorrow."

"You think so?" Gabriella asked with a hollow laugh. "Because I'm thinking that you'll be the one with the regrets... and the hangover."

He didn't appear to have anything to say to her after that, and she was glad because she didn't want to have to stick around the noisy party for very much longer. Feeling wickedly empowered, Gabriella decided then to leave Mitch's self-centered personage behind her. As she was walking away, there was only one more thing she felt the need to get out in the open.

"By the way -- Kurt Cobain was a mediocre songwriter and an even worse musician! He only knew three chords for crying out loud!"

* * *

**AN:** There's a farewell party for Mitch in my profile and you're all invited! Not really because that's not physically possible but yeah. I've been working at this chapter for a few weeks, trying to get it exactly right. Hope I didn't disappoint! You should all go write me a nice big review to tell me what you think. Pleeeease?

Snaps to Kylz and my big bro Crssy for looking this over for me when I was too lazy to edit this. Love you guys!

Also, I've made a Neon Gems wallpaper if you'd like to have a look: i89(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/k221/fictacious-fangirl/fanfic/neongemswall3(dot)jpg

ps -- The next chapter of _"My Best Friend's Hot!_" -- mine and Kylz's cowrite -- will be posted eventually. You'll have to bear with us because a lot of crazy life stuff has been going down lately! If you haven't read the story yet, you should so go check it out in her profile (**CJ.xox.Dancerella**)!

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	13. Broken Curfews, Broken Hearts

**ALL OF THE ABOVE, CHAPTER THIRTEEN.**

**Hey peeps! There's been a big upswing in reviews lately and its making me giddy. Thanks so much everyone! This chapter goes out to _nothingmuch-47_**** because she reads not only this fic but also the co-write I've got on the go with CJ.xox.Dancerella (aka Kylie) titled _My Best Friend's Hot_****! Your review kicked me into high gear, chick, so thank you muchly! ps -- You should all dart over to Kylie's profile and read our fic. Its off the hook. Promise.**

**Speaking of Kylz, a shout out to her as well for being my test subject with this chap! Peace, sisterrr! **

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"Claire?"

It was only around ten thirty and yet Claire's voice was thick with sleep when she answered.

"Gabs?"

"It's me," Gabriella confirmed, keeping an eye and ear on her surroundings as well as the phone call. The neighborhood in Sunnydale where she was currently situated was a suburb and fairly upscale, but it was strange to her and due to the party raging down the block, there were questionable characters around. Gabriella was trying to keep herself hidden from view as much as possible without stepping all over people's flower patches.

"Are you okay? You sound freaked," her friend said.

The decision to call Claire had been hastily made. Although she may still have been mad about her friend's recent actions, she was too good of a person to leave Gabriella stranded alone in the middle of the night.

"I am a little," Gabriella admitted, pointedly not making eye contact with a hooded guy who had just crossed over to her side of the street. "Is there any way you could come get me? I'm somewhere in Sunnydale…"

"What the heck are you doing in Sunnydale at ten thirty on a school night?"

A held breath released from Gabriella's lips when the shady man disappeared up the drive of a house down the street.

"It's a long story," she told Claire. "With some surprising twists."

"I can only imagine."

"I'm on Revello Drive. Do you know where that is?" Gabriella questioned anxiously.

A pause and then – "Yeah, that's only like five minutes away. I'll walk."

Relief flooded Gabriella's tense body, the excitement of seeing her best friend already mounting.

"You're a Saint, blondie. I swear I'll tell you everything when you get here," she gushed.

"You'd better," Claire replied and then the line disconnected.

It was about seven finicky minutes later – judging by Gabriella's frequent glances at her watch – that Claire rounded the corner of Revello Drive. Gabriella waved enthusiastically at her, leaping up from the low stonewall she'd sat on a few minutes earlier when she'd grown tired of pacing. The two girls met up in the middle of the sidewalk.

"You're all dolled up," Claire observed. "Special occasion?"

Gabriella's mind drifted back to the horror show of the party.

"Hardly," she said.

"How's Mitch?" Claire asked, able to tell from her appearance that she'd been with him.

A laugh escaped Gabriella. "Drunk and probably confused. Maybe even a little bit angry."

"What happened?" asked Claire, whose curiosity was now undeniable.

They began to walk as Gabriella dropped the bombshell.

"I dumped him at some stupid party."

Claire's steady pace came to a halt and her mouth dropped open.

"Are you telling me you just dumped Mitch Heron?" she squeaked.

Gabriella grinned at her reaction. "I might be."

"At a party full of his friends?"

"Yup."

"May I ask why?" Claire said, shaking her head numbly.

"Troy showed up," Gabriella began and – if possible – her friend's aqua eyes grew wider with questions. "And Mitch was being a drunk asshole so I decided to set him straight and come clean. Besides," she added. "I was so damn bored the entire time I was there. I couldn't stand it any longer."

Letting this story sink in, Claire continued to shake her head.

"Dude… Mands is going to freak! This is awesome – you're back!"

Gabriella giggled and threaded her arm through Claire's so they could continue their short trek.

"You could hardly say I've been gone," she replied. "We were only not speaking for three days."

Claire sighed dramatically. "Is that all? It seemed like a month! And just for the record, you've been slowly going since the start of this whole Mitch fiasco."

Inwardly, Gabriella cringed, knowing full well that the blond was right. She'd been losing herself, piece by piece, for the past couple of months. But now it was high time to bring back the real Gabriella with a vengeance. After tonight, she felt as if she was well on the way.

"I know. I'm so sorry, Claire. I just built up this dream of having him for so long—"

"Save it, darling," Claire cut in. "Now that he's toast, things are all good in my books. You did the right thing."

Gabriella couldn't help but whole-heartedly agree. It was almost embarrassing the utter lack of regret she felt.

"It dawned on me a little bit too late but… he's really… lame," she said, lacking a more sufficient term for Mitch's rockstar bravado.

"What a disappointment. All those songs we wrote…" said Claire wistfully.

"I can't believe we wasted our energy," Gabriella responded with a grimace.

"Enough about him then. What happened with Jock Boy?" Claire questioned, endearingly dropping the nickname she'd coined early on for Troy.

Suddenly Gabriella's face fell – her victory forgotten – as she recalled Troy's belligerence toward her attempts at removing the wedge she'd foolishly shoved between them.

"Not much," she told Claire. "He came with Nat, Mitch called him out for showing up with his baby sister and then Troy left before things could escalate. He handled the situation really well but…"

"But what?" Claire urged as they both turned up the familiar driveway of her Aunt's green one-story home.

The ebony haired girl sighed with remorse and went on, "I don't know if he's going to forgive me any time soon. I really hurt him."

Claire stared at her for a moment, taking in the sadness rolling off her in waves.

"Yeah… you did," she softly agreed.

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Troy snuck silently into his house at around ten minutes to eleven. On school nights, his usual curfew was around ten or ten thirty but he was confident that if one of his parents saw him, he wouldn't be in too much trouble.

He'd only broken school night curfew a handful of times. As far as teenage rebels went, Troy Bolton wasn't anywhere near having the creds to qualify. His father had taught him from a young age that in order to succeed in life, you had to be focused on your goals and not much else.

As he tiptoed up the hallway to his bedroom – almost home free – his cell phone vibrated in his front pocket. Blessing his lucky stars that he'd had the presence in mind to disable the sound, he hurried along into his room in order to answer it. He had a fair idea of who it was. A glance at the number before pressing talk confirmed his hunch.

"What the heck was that?" he asked, with more ferocity then he'd intended, in lieu of a proper greeting.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Nat immediately blurted out. "I really didn't think he would be there!"

Troy scowled, not at Nat but rather the sting of remembering what had gone down a little more then an hour before.

"Don't parties and musicians go hand in hand?"

"Usually but he hates the guy who threw the party's guts because he told everyone that he and I had sex on a pool table. I've never seen Mitch so crazily over-protective before. Tonight doesn't even compare to how furious he was after that…" Nat replied and Troy could hear her shudder.

Shocked, he could only say, "Wow…"

"That's a good way of putting it," she agreed. "Of course, I didn't mention that it was actually a kitchen counter because then he probably would have almost killed me too."

"Wow…" Troy repeated, not certain how to respond to the bit of an overshare.

"Anyways, I'm sorry you had to go through all that bullshit. Mitch was totally out of line," she apologized again. "I'm seventeen, for Christ's sake. I can take care of myself!"

Troy took in and released a deep pull of air.

"Don't worry about it," he assured her. "But I think I should stay away from that whole scene from now on. Its not my thing."

"Mandy and Claire will be sad to hear that. You've really grown on them you know."

Smiling fondly, Troy said, "I'll miss those two."

Even as he said it, his mind was on the one girl he'd miss more then anything else. She was the whole reason he'd met Nat, Claire and Mandy in the first place. She was also the reason his chest now constantly ached with the pain of heartbreak.

"Well, I guess I'll talk to you later, Sport. I…" Nat turned oddly serious then. "I hope it all works out for you… with CJ and everything…"

"I hope so too," Troy murmured.

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Gabriella and Claire quietly slipped around to the side of the house where Claire's window waited – wide open – to grant them undetected access. With some difficulty they heaved themselves up and into the small room, helping each other along the way. Neither of them voiced concerns about what Claire's Aunt Lindsey would say about Gabriella's presence in the morning or how she would get back to Albuquerque in time for school. They were too lost in thought about the night's events.

"Claire? Why do you think he got so upset?" Gabriella asked after being handed an old pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt.

The blonde's nose wrinkled in confusion. "What do you mean? You told Mitch he was stalking you. I think that's grounds for someone to be hurt and pissed, Gabs."

"I know, but he really took it to heart. Why should he care what someone like me says about him? Especially when both he and I know it's not true…" Gabriella explained, glad to finally be able to get an outside opinion on something that had been plaguing her for the past three days.

Claire hesitated before she replied, weighing her options and trying to decide what she should and should not say to her oblivious friend.

"Gabi… the guy is totally into you," she finally revealed.

By rights she knew she should have let Troy tell Gabriella about his feelings in his own time but since he wasn't speaking to her, that would've been all but impossible.

Gabriella released a bark of laughter. "You're kidding, right? Troy Bolton is not into me."

"Would you stop saying his name like he's a freaking celebrity or something? He's a normal guy who's head over heels for you. Why do you think Mandy hasn't jumped him yet?" said Claire, rolling her eyes at the irritating thickness of her friend's skull.

Giving it further thought, Gabriella began to piece together a puzzle. The boundless flirting, their meaningful conversations where he opened up to her, the way his cerulean eyes would light up a hundred watts when they met hers… Claire wasn't messing about.

Troy Bolton was indeed into her.

Before then, the mere idea of that being possible had been too ridiculous for her to fathom. She'd never even allowed it to cross her mind.

But now came the million dollar question... How did she feel about Troy?

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**A/N: I realize that this chapter's not really up to scratch (and is _incredibly_ short) but I realllllly wanted to do that cliffhanger! I couldn't have ended it any other way! I do have the next chapter almost half done so it shouldn't be too long before I come at you with another update. Until then, review my lovely readers! Reviewwww!**


	14. Man Your Battle Stations

**ALL OF THE ABOVE -- CHAPTER FOURTEEN!**

The following day, Lindsey drove Gabriella back to Albuquerque herself, but not before she called her mother and had a nice long chat with Mrs. Montez about her daughter's trouble-making. Needless to say, she had been less then impressed. She didn't yell or get angry. No, Gabriella would have preferred that to the disappointment she heard -- even over the phone -- in her mother's voice. Another person's trust in her had been damaged by her dealings with Mitch, although she was aware that it was partially her own fault as well. That's why she accepted two weeks worth of grounding with good grace; she knew she deserved it.

In school, Gabriella kept trying to catch Troy's eye, to at least get him to acknowledge her presence, but to no avail. She sat in her desk during every class and he seemed to be all she could think about. From across each classroom she shared with him, she observed him carefully, absorbing every little detail. He seemed different somehow now that she knew the truth... and yet still the same.

It was really hard to wrap her head around the concept that such a perfect creature could feel that way about her, which was why she had never entertained the idea before. She'd been having such a good time simply being with him and being his friend that it never occurred to her they could be anything more.

"What's the deal with you today, Gabi?" Taylor whispered during English, the second to last class of the day.

Emerging slowly from the fog her head had been immersed in all period, Gabriella said, "What do you mean?"

"You haven't taken your eyes off Troy the entire day. You're getting worse then Sheena Kingsley," she replied, referring to a freshman who was the president of the Official Troy Bolton Fan Club, East High Branch. They had buttons and everything. Gabriella couldn't help but laugh at the comparison.

"Yeah, I'm just... I think..."

Then, in the middle of her fragmented sentence, Troy turned in his desk for the briefest of moments and the world seemed to stop. His brilliant eyes flickered to her, only to widen once he caught her staring back. That's all it took for everything to become clear in Gabriella's mind -- a single glance.

"I think I'm in love with him," she breathed.

Taylor damn near fell out of her chair.

"You're in _**what** _with him!?" she demanded.

"In love with him. I'm in love with Troy Bolton," Gabriella said, in awe of the words coming out of her own mouth yet not doubting them for a second.

"You do realize how insane that sounds, right? When the hell did this happen?" Taylor questioned as she leaned closer to her friend, her English essay now entirely abandoned on her desk.

Instead of supplying an answer, Gabriella muttered, more to herself then to Taylor, "I'm such an idiot! How could I not have known before...?"

"Before what?"

Taylor's frustration was steadily mounting.

"How am I going to get him back Tay?" Gabriella asked desperately, still blind to Taylor's utter lack of knowing what the heck she was on about. "God, I screwed this up before it could even start."

"Just tell me what happened and we'll find a way to fix it," Taylor comforted her. It was amazing how she switched seamlessly to best friend mode once she recognized how upset Gabriella really was.

Looking at the girl beside her, one of the few people that had her back through thick and thin, Gabriella realized it was time to come clean. She had to stop lying, not only to others but to herself as well.

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It took the entirety of lunch period, perched on the edge of the fountain in front of the school, for Gabriella to spill her guts to Taylor. The dark skinned girl listened without interruption, likely too thrown by what she was hearing to comment.

"So," she said when Gabriella had finally finished. "All those weekends spent in Sunnydale with Claire, you were actually playing in rock band under a fake name?"

Gabriella nodded, waiting expectantly for something along the lines of a major freak out.

"That's... wow. And _Troy Bolton_ knew before me?"

Blushing sheepishly, Gabriella came to her own defense, "It was a total fluke that he found out. I was so panicked when I saw him there... but I'm glad he was. Otherwise I probably never would have spoken to him."

The idea seemed wrong to her.

"And when you say you 'love' him..."

"I mean it. I don't know how it happened, and I know I sure as hell haven't been acting like it, but it _did _happen," Gabriella insisted. It felt good to say aloud.

Taylor, for her friend's sake, tried to keep her cynicism to a minimum. She could easily see the spark in Gabriella's eye when she talked about the basketball captain. It was hard for her to believe, given her position on athletes in general, but there was no denying that _something_ was there.

"What do you think I should do?" Gabriella asked, biting the corner of her lip.

"You were right," Taylor responded. Her eyes were far away as she pondered the most diplomatic way to phrase her thoughts. "You really screwed this up, Gab. But I think if you guys are meant to be, it can be fixed. How?" she added before Gabriella could ask. "You'll have to figure that one out on your own."

Gabriella sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."

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It wasn't until homeroom on Friday morning that Gabriella got the answer she'd been waiting for. Idling in her desk during homeroom, something Miss Darbus said during the daily announcements caught her attention.

"And, as a reminder, sign ups for the Spring Talent Show will be over as of lunch time today so please do hurry if you wish to partake. Late sign up will not be accepted. See Katie Lee, the event organizer, for more details," she reeled off in her usual over-the-top tone, making the issue sound like a matter of life or death.

Suddenly, an idea blossomed in her brain. Troy had been bugging Gabriella about participating in the Talent Show, which would be taking place the following Wednesday evening, for weeks before they stopped speaking. It now seemed like the ideal opportunity to show not only him but the whole school that she wasn't afraid to be herself. There was just one eensy problem...

She was petrified.

What if she messed up? She would be labeled as not only a freak capable of nothing more then solving math equations but also a wannabe.

And what about Troy? Would he be upset if she revealed her feelings for him in front of everyone? What if he laughed at her? What if he simply walked out of the auditorium?

Insecurities raged inside her, though she now tried valiantly to embrace them as a part of the real Gabriella. Her mother always said that if there's something in life worth having, it usually takes hard work. If she wanted Troy -- and she was absolutely certain he was worth having -- it would take some massive work. She'd have to overcome her biggest fear of standing out from the crowd.

"Katie!" Gabriella called after the bell signaling first period had rung. The small Asian girl halted next to the door, turning just in time to see her dart from her desk.

"Yes?" Katie asked uncertainly. Of course she had no idea that Gabriella had any desire whatsoever to be on stage.

"I would like to sign my band up for the Talent Show," the brunette told her.

And so the plan began to unfold. Now there was no going back.

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Gabriella had a strong urge to dedicate the entire weekend to writing and rehearsing with the Neon Gems in order to minimize the possibility of humiliation when they got onstage. This was a wonderful notion... in theory. The problem with the idea was that Gabriella was still grounded after the infamous weekday partying incident from early in the week. In no way did Gabriella think her punishment was unjust, it had just come at a rather inconvenient time. On Friday evening, she tore herself away from her guitar and the slow-going process of songwriting in order to plead her case with her mother.

Eva Montez was seated behind her tidy desk in her study, her glasses perched on the end of her nose as she studied a tax form. Gabriella knocked softly on the door frame, waiting only a second before she entered. Mrs. Montez was clearly busy but never the less, she patiently laid the piece of paper in her hand aside and removed her glasses.

"What is it, honey?"

"Mommy..." Gabriella began.

Eva smirked, not needing to hear much more then that to know that her daughter wanted something she didn't think she would get.

"I know that I'm grounded, and trust me I completely and totally understand why I am and I accept full responsibility for my actions but I need an enormous favor..."

As her eyes narrowed suspiciously, Mrs. Montez questioned, "Favor? Please elaborate."

"Well, I'm participating in the school's talent show on Wednesday night... and I really need to rehearse," Gabriella murmured. For some reason, she seemed able to look only at her feet while she scuffed them nervously against the lush carpet.

"And?"

"I really need to rehearse with Claire and Mandy in Sunnydale," she finished, bracing herself for a flat out no.

To her suprise, Mrs. Montez leaned back slightly in her office chair, observing her child thoughtfully.

"This show is really important to you..."

She didn't need to ask. Somehow, she could simply sense this fact. Mrs. Montez knew her daughter and she knew that Gabriella wouldn't try to weasel out of a punishment she'd earned without good reason.

Gabriella could feel her spirits lift slightly when her request wasn't immediately rejected. "Incredibly important," she confirmed.

Another moment of reflection passed before Mrs. Montez spoke again.

"You're a good kid, Gabi. You made a bad decision but, hey, you _are _a teenager and normally, you're a fairly tame one," she said carefully. "I'm not saying that I will completely dismiss all charges laid against you, but for this weekend you will be permitted to go to Sunnydale as long as you only go to Claire or Mandy's houses and you're back in this house before the sun sets. Does that sound reasonable?"

In a flurry of arms and legs, Eva suddenly found herself with her teenage daughter clinging to her neck, wrapping her up in a tight hug.

"Thankyouthankyou, Mom! Have I told you just how much I adore you today?"

Mrs. Montez laughed. "No. But its nice to hear every now and then."

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It was a stereotypical Saturday afternoon for a teenage girl band, hanging in Mandy's garage while her parents were off visiting her grandparents. The idea was for them to practice for the Talent Show, which Gabriella had all but gotten down on her knees and begged them to do, but instead Mandy and Claire were flinging darts at an old board mounted to the wall while their lead singer had been attached to her guitar since arriving. Gabriella was desperate to write the perfect song for the show, something that would explain to Troy everything she was feeling...

"_I wanna be there for you_," she sang, strumming softly along. "_Be someone you can come to... _Argh! Why is this so hard?"

Claire threw the last dart in her hand, paying no mind to the fact that it stuck into the wall several inches below the dart board, before she plunked down next to her friend on arm of an old beat up chair that had long since been lugged from Mandy's living room.

"You're trying too hard, Gabs. You're over-thinking it."

"Over-thinking it?" Gabriella echoed.

"You're trying to hard to make the song flawless. You just need to write what you feel like you normally do and it will come out amazing by default," Claire assured her with a mega-watt grin.

Mandy also abandoned their sad game of darts and took a seat on the other arm of the chair.

"Claire's right, babe," she said. "Just feel and it will come naturally."

Gabriella's brows knitted together as she took in their advice. Just feel. She knew that was normally how she wrote songs. When something was nagging at her, she'd immediately hide away with her notebook and jot down lyrics which were quickly followed by riffs and chords.

"While you let that simmer, Mands and I will go fetch some ice cream. We deserve a reward for all this hard work we've been putting in."

After accepting a grateful smile from Gabriella, Claire and Mandy bounced gleefully out into the drive and over to Mandy's front door, spurred on by the prospect of chocolate chip cookie dough goodness.

As soon as the two other Gems were out of sight, Gabriella closed her eyes and let her mind drift. She let herself remember the first time Troy had spoken to her that day in the school hallway when she had slammed right into him and how nervous talking to him had made her at first. It wasn't long before those nerves and reservations had simply eased to exist. Socialising wasn't Gabriella's strong point but Troy's laid back charms made it impossible not to feel at ease around him.

He'd been a rock for her. An unselfish source of support when he recieved nothing in return. He was the one who'd been able to talk Gabriella down from the edge of hysteria prior to the big Soundwaves gig and he was the one who had simply _been there _for all the other little shows in between since meeting her properly. It was maddening how completely she'd taken him for granted, even just in the friendly sense, nevermind in a romantic way.

Gripped with an onslaught of fresh emotion provided by her indepth musings, Gabriella pressed her pen to paper and let her memories of Troy and the message she was desperate to convey to him flow out as song lyrics. Despite a few scribbles and crossed out lines, a new song came to her with relative ease. Not one hint of the frustration from only moments earlier showed on her face. It was instead lined with concentration and -- when a particularly genius line was created -- satisfaction.

Just as her guitar was returned to its rightful place in her lap so she could work out a corresponding melody, her friends returned with two whole litres of ice cream. They had spoons in their hands as well but hadn't bothered with bowls. Gabriella was deeply in the zone at this point and barely noticed their reappearance.

"Ahhh, Miss Songwriter Extraordinaire walks among us once more," Mandy declared as she whipped the lid off the ice cream tub.

She and Claire respectfully nabbed seats on a couch -- in similar disrepair to the armchair -- opposite Gabriella and tucked into their treat as quietly as possible, letting their lead singer slave away.

Fifteen minutes and half a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough later, Gabriella finally looked up at them, a huge smile on her lips. She proudly held up the sheet of notebook paper she'd been randomly jotting things on.

"Ladies..." she said. "Man your battle stations. I think I've got something here."

Claire beamed back at her. "Told you it would come to you sooner or later."

She leaped up and settled herself comfortably behind her drum kit, ready for action. Mandy wasted no time in strapping on her bass and cranking up the volume on her amp.

"Let's blow the tops off every single one of my mom's tulips!" she pitched in, her enthusiasm evident.

"I'm sure she'd really appreciate that. We'd be practicing in the alley behind McDonald's for the rest of our lives," Claire said whilst rolling her eyes in a good natured fashion.

Mandy shrugged. "I'd just tell her it was all in the name of true love. She's a woman, she'd understand."

The trio laughed and at that point, Gabriella could only thank whatever God had supplied her with such kickass friends and bandmates. She stood so that she could step up to the old mic she'd saved up for weeks to buy and tried not to imagine how many people would be in the audience during the talent show. There was only one person she cared about seeing there and she'd be singing this song to him and him only.

"Okay, girls. It goes a little something like this..."

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**A/N: Finally I have another update for y'all! I've been itching to update this fic FOREVER but my laptop completely crashed a couple of weeks ago, making it sort of difficult. I kinda wanted to crawl into a hole and just... die. But enough with the melodrama! Hopefully I'll be able to afford to fix Charlay (Yes, that is the name of my laptop) soon. Keep your fingers crossed! I know I will be... and my toes... and my eyes... and every other appendage known to man.**

**Anyways, fic stuff now. I know there was like one sentence worth of Troy in this chapter (he didn't even get his own little POV section! Blasphemy!) but I'm just building the plot up to its climax and in order to do that, there had to be a LOT done on the Gabriella front. Don't worry, he'll get his chance soon enough. I'm sort of iffy on this chapter, which I know is annoying to read in an author's note but I couldn't help but wonder if the whole "OMFGIlovehim!" thing was handled well... **

**There should only be a few more chaps left to this story but I'm thinking -- very tentatively -- of doing a sequel simply because I have a weird obsession with writing Gabriella as a rockstar. I'm so grateful for all of you guys who have stuck with this fic throughout my sporadic updates and what many of you percieve as Gabriella's idiocy. I mean it from the bottom of my broken heart _(-cue emo!tear for Charlay-) _when I say THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING AND REVIEWING! And to anyone just tuning in... WECLOME! **


	15. Do It For Jock Boy

**ALL OF THE ABOVE -- CHAPTER FIFTEEN!**

Troy was half convinced it was all in his mind, but he felt as if Gabriella had been staring at him a considerable amount since the latest Mitch fiasco. Everywhere he went, she seemed to be. It was confusing him to no end. She was so hot and cold; she couldn't decide what she wanted and it was driving him up the wall. He just wanted to be left alone with his basketball and schoolwork to distract him.

On the other hand, he longed to know what had caused the change in her attention. Why was she suddenly focused on him? His mind wandered all sorts of places, good and bad. Had she come around? Did she actually feel something for him? Were she and Mitch still and item? And, most importantly, what would happen if they were broken up? Troy Bolton had his pride... but he couldn't tell if that would be enough to make him resist Gabriella should she try to advance on him. For the sake of his aching heart, he hoped he was imagining things.

The weekend had passed in a blur of two on two games with his best friends from the basketball team, household chores -- much to his mother's shock -- and homework. Anything to keep his mind and hands busy. It was the first time he'd volunteered to load the dishwasher since he was ten and had been in the market for a new bike. Before Troy knew it, another week had started. Nowadays everything seemed to run together.

In school, he kept his head down. It was just easier that way. He could tell that his friends were concerned by his change in behavior and he felt foolish about it himself, but found it couldn't be helped. Suddenly he'd become a stereotypically angst-ridden teenager, just like his parents had always feared and he hated it.

"Dude," Chad said after catching up to him in the hall on Wednesday morning. "If you had a soundtrack for your life right now, half the songs would be by Simple Plan. What's up?"

Troy sighed. Talking to Chad about girls was one of his less favored activities.

"I'm just having a hard time right now, man. I pray it'll be over soon."

But somehow he doubted it. Stupid teenage hormones.

"Girl trouble? You have that look," his friend observed, causing Troy to grimace. Was he that transparent?

"What else?" he asked -- a rhetorical question.

"Still hanging on to that Gabriella chick?"

Flushing, Troy hung his head in manly embarrassment. "I know, I need help."

"No, what you need is a new woman," Chad told him wisely.

"I'm pretty sure that's the _last_ thing I need right now..." Troy groaned.

"Come on! I know the perfect place to find one too!" he insisted.

Troy rolled his eyes, imagining what his ridiculous best friend may have had in mind. "Where? The docks? Wal-mart? Enlighten me."

Shaking his head, Chad replied, "This Talent Show thing tonight! You're going right?"

Of all the retarded places his friend could have suggested, Troy wouldn't have suspected the Talent Show. Who in their right mind would try to pick up chicks in that cesspool? Everyone would be knee-deep in backstage dramatics, something the basketball star was determined to steer clear of.

"Are you kidding me?"

"... Is no an acceptable answer?"

Troy eyed Chad suspiciously. "What are you up to, dude?"

"Why do you automatically assume I'm up to something?" he sputtered.

"Like you'd go to that thing on purpose with no motive. Not likely. You forget I've known you forever," Troy said.

Starting with a sigh of resignation, Chad answered, "Fine. I was hoping you'd be my wingman."

"Wingman?" Troy was wary of where the conversation was now headed.

"Yeah," Chad confirmed. "You see, I really like this girl and she's into school activities and all that crap so I know she'll be there tonight..."

"And you need me because...?"

"To make me look good! You can like... talk me up and stuff," he told Troy as if it were painfully obvious.

Not at all in an arguing mood, Troy hesitantly agreed. "Alright," he said. "But only because I know how much of an idiot you can be when it comes to the opposite sex."

Little did the blue-eyed boy know that he'd just been set up by his best friend.

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"I can't believe you agreed to do that for me!" Gabriella exclaimed. "You've got to be the _best_ friend in the entire world!"

Taylor smiled weakly with a shrug. "Yeah, little bit."

For what seemed like the thousandth time, Gabriella leaped at her friend, throwing her arms around Taylor's neck in an enthusiastic embrace.

"This means so much to me, Tay," she gushed.

"I know," Taylor replied. "Why else do you think I'd agree to go on a date with Chad Danforth?"

Getting Troy to attend the Talent Show in his current state of teenage sulking was going to be a challenge, as both girls had been well aware. The best chance they had of success would be to ensnare his best friend into convincing him and in order to do that, they had to make a deal. Since Troy had become acquainted with Gabriella, Chad had been sniffing around Taylor's locker in the mornings before the rest of the basketball team arrived. He harbored a secret crush on the brainiac that not even Troy had been privy to. Taylor and Gabriella had only found out that morning when they decided to ask him for his assistance in Gabriella's plan to publicly confess her love to the basketball star and he'd agreed only on the terms that Taylor went to the movies with him on Friday night.

All in all, it fell into place almost too perfectly. Gabriella was trying to interpret it as a sign that the whole thing was meant to be.

Sneaking a quick glance at the watch around her friend's wrist, Gabriella gasped. "I've got to run! Claire and Mandy are supposed to be meeting me at my house in an hour so we can rehearse a bit before we come back for the show... I need time to chill out and keep reminding myself that this is actually a good idea."

"There's nothing to be nervous about, sister," Taylor comforted her. "You'll be great, if what you played me yesterday was any indication."

Now that Taylor was in on her musical talents, Gabriella had been very liberal with gaining her opinion on the song she'd written for this very important occasion. She wanted to know if it was too sappy, too personal, or too any other bad adjective. Judging from Taylor's squeeful reaction, it was just right. This appeased Gabriella's worry a considerable amount but she was still very near being frightened to death.

"Thanks," she replied sincerely, though her smile was meek with nerves.

"I'll see you tonight. I'll come backstage before you go on to check on you, okay?"

In the midst of another grateful hug, Gabriella said, "That'd be awesome, Tay."

The girls shared a meaningful look before Gabriella headed to the front doors of the school where she yanked her headphones from her neck, up over her ears, cranking the volume to drown out her thoughts. It was the only way she'd make it until the show.

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"So, who is this girl?" Troy asked Chad, scanning the crowd of people slowly finding their seats in the East High auditorium.

Chad coughed nervously. "She, uh, she's not here yet. I'll let you know when I see her."

Eyeing his best friend quizzically, Troy shrugged.

"Whatever, dude. You could at least tell me her name, since I so graciously agreed to help you out," he pressed.

"Her name is... Helga?"

"... Helga?"

Troy couldn't think of a single girl who went to their school with that name. It was then that something clicked in Troy's brain. This wasn't about some girl; Chad had a hidden agenda. After being closer then brothers since pre-school, Troy was just shocked that he hadn't realized it before now. Chad was good at many things -- basketball, video games, Twister -- but lying wasn't one of them.

Coming to a halt halfway down the aisle, Troy grabbed onto Chad's arm.

"There is no Helga, is there?" he asked. He watched Chad wilt under the pressure of his probing stare.

"Nope," Chad sighed upon a moment of deliberation.

Troy's eyebrows furrowed and he said, "Then why the heck are we here?"

"Will you please just sit?" Chad begged. "Just do it for me, Hoops."

"Please don't tell me you've got the hots for Sharpay Evans or something like that..." Troy grimaced as he made reference to the blond queen of the theatre at East High. Although the drama club had nothing to do with the show, she'd been on Katie Lee like leech, intent on stealing the spotlight just like she always did.

Chad gave him a murderous glare. "Please. Give me _some_ credit."

"Fine," Troy huffed, rolling his eyes as he sank into the nearest seat, one on the aisle. "But you'd better have a good explanation ready for me later."

"Oh, trust me. Its better then good."

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Behind the thick red curtain separating the performers from their audience, Mandy and Claire were sitting on Mandy's bass amp, tracking Gabriella's pacing steps. Back and forth, back and forth, over and over. They exchanged worried expressions as they watched her muttering to herself, completely in her own world of consuming stage fright. Someone needed to intervene... and fast.

"Sweetie?" Claire tried cautiously, pushing herself into a standing position.

"Huh?" Gabriella started. "What?"

"How're you doing?" questioned the blond as she laid a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder to cease the maddening pattern of her footsteps.

Gabriella groaned, slapping her hands to her face. "I don't know. I feel nauseated and sort of dizzy... I think I might pass out... or vomit... or both... maybe simultaneously."

Claire pulled her distressed friend into a tight hug, smiling when Mandy ambushed them from behind, easily wrapping her long arms around both the petite girls.

"Just think about Jock Boy, rockstar," Claire said, purposely using the nickname Troy had given her. "Its all for him and no one else."

Gabriella nodded, wishing that her friend's words were enough to kill the shaking of her limbs and the butterflies going mental in her stomach. Thinking of Troy did help somewhat... until she thought of what he might make of her performance. She wanted to believe that he'd run up and the stage and they'd kiss and live happily ever after, but there was certainly no embarrassment back guarantee.

But even just the possibility was enough to keep Gabriella going. In the distance, she could hear Sharpay Evans singing a flashy show tune in an attempt to wow the people sitting on the floor below the stage. Soon the Gems would be called to that stage and then there would be no going back.

Gabriella tried to tune everything else out and just get in what she liked to refer to as 'the zone'. In the zone, there was just her and the guitar strapped around her neck, nothing more. She ran her hands along the smooth lines of the neck and the shiny black body, willing the instrument to give her strength and to make her proud. Absentmindedly, she plucked a nameless melody out on the stings, the low twanging -- without amplification -- unable to carry above the noise of the crowd applauding Sharpay's performance.

Katie Lee approached Gabriella and her friends to tell them what the sinking feeling in her gut already indicated to her -- that it was showtime.

"Two minutes, guys," the small Asian girl informed them in a hurried voice, adjusting her headset.

"I'm really going to do this, aren't I?" Gabriella asked in a tiny voice.

Mandy laughed. "Hell yeah, you are."

Claire reached into her back pocket and whipped out her drumsticks, twirling them effortlessly around her hands like a magician.

"We're here to back you up, babe. No worries."

"And you _know_ we'll make you look good," Mandy joked.

The sound of heavy footfalls and panting breaths stole the Gems' attention away from their pre-show pep talk. Taylor was approaching their little group at a steady jog.

"Tay!" Gabriella exclaimed, overjoyed by the girl's appearance. She'd begun to doubt wether or not she'd keep her word and show up before they went on.

"Katie Lee is like a backstage Nazi!" Taylor puffed when she reached them. "I had to sneak in."

Mandy coughed in a not-so-delicate manner, indicating her wish for an introduction.

"Oh!" Gabriella said once she caught on. "Girls, this is Taylor. Taylor, this is Mandy and Claire."

Pleasant nods and handshakes were exchanged as Gabriella looked on with a smile, suddenly grateful that her life was all meshing together. Keeping it separate had been more exhausting then she'd realized.

"Is he here?" Gabriella questioned desperately. If Chad hadn't been able to convince him to come, then the whole ordeal would be for nothing.

Taylor nodded emphatically, a huge grin on her face. "He's sitting with Chad about midway down," she notified her friend and Gabriella was overtaken with a fresh wave of fright... but also a measure of anticipation. What if the chips did happen to fall in her favor that night?

"We need you on stage, Gabriella!" Katie Lee urgently called out from the wings.

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Seems like I got here just in time. Good luck, Gabs. Knock 'em dead!" She and Gabriella shared a hug before she added, "Same to you girls."

Mandy just winked and replied, "I don't need luck, sister. All I need is my bass and an audience."

They all laughed, mostly in an attempt to ease the tension seeping from Gabriella, infecting the air around her. Katie Lee, practically on the warpath, ran over and all but pushed the brunette in the direction of the stage, her bandmates following after for fear of similar treatment.

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Troy was making a show of rotating his jaw in order to regain some of the hearing that had been lost when Sharpay decided to end her song off with a deafening high C. He was shooting daggers at Chad who, in the seat beside him, looked as though he wasn't so sure what he was doing at the Talent Show anymore either.

The first few acts had passed in a boring mess of off-key tuba playing, wannabe cheerleaders and Troy badgering Chad for information as to exactly what he had done to deserve such torture. For once, Chad remained resolutely silent and he'd given up. Eventually, he was sure, all would become clear. Whether or not that was a good thing was still annoyingly _un_clear but he stayed seated, curiosity getting the best of him.

A few minutes of fidgeting later, the curtain rose of what he was certain would be another monstrosity... until he set his blue eyes on _her_.

The rockstar.

She stood in the shadows behind Katie Lee at center stage, Mandy and Claire on either side of her at their respective instruments. Troy was bombarded with flashbacks to nights spent at The Bronze, captivated by her inadvertent stage presence.

So this is what Chad had been up to...

Troy was going to kill him.

"For our next act, we have a special and surprising treat," Katie announced theatrically. "Please welcome the Neon Gems, fronted by our very own Gabriella Montez!"

Still wearing the same clothing she'd had on in school earlier that day, Gabriella hesitantly closed in on the mic Katie had just abandoned, taking the spotlight. Troy Bolton had never seen anything so beautiful.

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE: One step closer to the end! Sorry to leave you hanging like that but I swear, you'll get the song in the next chapter. I hope I picked the right one. I was having so much trouble with it but I finally narrowed it down. I'm aiming to have the next chapter up faster then I had this one up. I _may_ be able to get it done this weekend because I'm fairly certain I'll have a night of computer access. The laptop sitch in Jessaland is still a sad state of affairs.**

**Thanks again to absolutely everyone who reviewed! You're all rockstars! How 'bout we continue the trend? Winkwinknudgenudge!  
**


	16. Miracle

**ALL OF THE ABOVE -- CHAPTER SIXTEEN!!**

Gabriella's body was numb with fear. The spotlight was hot and bright, shining straight on her. There was a small speech she had planned to say before launching into the deep and meaningful song she'd written but suddenly she couldn't recall a single word of it. She could barely remember why she was onstage. All she could see was row after row of familiar people, judging her, ready to ridicule should she make an ass of herself.

Mandy sensed Gabriella's troubles and reached over to nudge her shoulder, earning a few laughs from the people below that only fed the trembling in the lead singer's limbs.

"Come on, Gabs. You can do it," the bassist urged with a smile.

Releasing a shaky breath, Gabriella closed her eyes tightly, pretending the only person in the audience was Troy. He'd never been one to judge her, no matter what happened. She could do this for him.

Eyes still shut, she coughed once into the mic, the amplified sound echoing around the room. People were beginning to whisper now, wondering why they weren't being brought the promised entertainment.

"Um..." Gabriella began, wishing she could have been more eloquent about it. "I, um, wrote this song for someone really special to me. Troy, this is for you... I'm sorry for everything I put you through... and, uh, I thought you should know... I'm kind of in love with you."

Not exactly in league with Martin Luther King's _'I Have A Dream'_ speech, but Gabriella was just relieved she'd gotten out a full sentence. What were previously whispers had now turned into full-blown talking. Her revelation was a shock to the student body. A geek not only had a guitar around her neck but had also just professed her love for their basketball star? It was unheard of. Gabriella couldn't open her eyes for fear she'd see Troy's retreating back as he scurried up the aisle and away from such humiliation.

Instead she tightened her grip on her lucky silver pick and struck a chord. She'd drown out their outrage with music. She'd show them... she'd show Troy.

Claire counted them into the slamming intro and before she had time to worry about it, it was time for Gabriella to start singing.

**I've gone for too long living like I'm not alive  
So I'm going to start over tonight  
Beginning with you and I  
When this memory fades  
I'm gonna make sure it's replaced  
With chances taken  
Hope embraced  
And have I told you?**

Though she stood still as a statue, Gabriella's voice was filled with passion. The lyrics had obvious meaning to her and she sang them with all her heart. The first verse switched fluently into the first refrain of the chorus.

**I'm not going  
cause I've been waiting for a miracle  
And I'm not leaving  
I won't let you  
Let you give up on a miracle  
Cause it might save you**

Slowly, Gabriella eased her brown eyes open. It was almost unconscious as she became more comfortable on the stage. She was on a rollercoaster -- there was no way of getting off the wild and exhilarating ride. Adrenaline pumped through her body, bringing her limbs back to life and letting her get fully into the song, moving with the melody.

Like a magnet, her gaze shifted to the middle of the room in front of her. In only seconds it locked on the boy who inspired the heartfelt song she was sharing with the world. It was impossible, but she swore she could see just how blue his eyes were even from her position on stage. Desperately, she tried to convey everything that swirled inside of her, to make him understand exactly how much he meant to her.

His face showed nothing but shock. To her chagrin, Gabriella couldn't read in his expression if he was pleased with her gesture or not. In either case she continued to give the performance her all.

**We've learned to run from  
Anything uncomfortable  
We've tied our pain below and no one ever has to know  
That inside we're broken  
I tried to patch things up again  
To cut my tears and kill my fears  
But have I told you, have I...**

**I'm not going  
Cause I've been waiting for a miracle  
And I'm not leaving  
I won't let you  
Let you give up on a miracle  
Cause it might save you**

Gabriella voice sounded pleading as she launched into the bridge, begging Troy to use his eyes and see that she was here and she was doing this for him. Mandy and Claire's voices blended hauntingly with her own but lacked the rawness of her lead vocals. In that moment, nothing could compare.

**It's not faith if, if you use your eyes  
Oh why**

**Get it right this time (this time)  
Let's leave this all behind  
Oh why**

**We'll get it right this time  
It's not faith if you're using your eyes  
Oh why**

_'Please,'_ Gabriella internally implored. To whom, she wasn't sure._ 'Please, let him understand... __I need him."_**  
**

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Troy was blown away. His head felt as though it was being squeezed in a huge vice. Everything was happening so fast that he could barely get a handle on it.

Gabriella Montez had just told an auditorium full of her peers that she was in love with him...

He had no freaking clue what to think of the whole situation and watching her pour her heart out through song wasn't making concentrating any easier. Every time he saw her sing and play her guitar, he told himself that she couldn't possibly get any more amazing or talented... but she always proved him wrong. This was no exception.

Her eyes -- even from a distance -- her voice, the way she leaned far into the mic... it was all so intense. The song she'd written just for him was perfect, every lyric and chord clearly agonized over until it flowed flawlessly into whatever followed.

**I've gone for too long living like I'm not alive  
So I'm going to start over tonight  
Beginning with you and I**

**I don't want to run from anything uncomfortable  
I just want, no  
I just need this pain to end right here**

There was a pause in the music, Gabriella's last line bouncing around the now silent auditorium. From across the room, Troy and Gabriella locked eyes and he swore he saw a single tear roll down her cheek. His heart lurched with the urge to wipe it away.

They were both in pain; they both needed each other. Troy had known this fact for a long time, or at least he'd known that he needed her. Lately he'd been trying to ignore it but that didn't make it any less true.

**I'm not going  
Cause I've been waiting for a miracle  
And I'm not leaving  
I won't let you  
Let you give up on a miracle  
Cause it might save you**

**Yeah, it might save you  
Oh, it might save you**

Awe was blatantly displayed on her faces around Troy, giving him an odd sense of pride. He forgot to be mad at her and simply basked in the weight of what this performance meant. The people in the audience wouldn't have been able to tell but Troy had no doubt that Gabriella was -- or at least had been -- scared to death to step on that stage. The fact that she'd done it solely for him was humbling.

Trust had been betrayed, his feelings had been wounded but there was no way he could continue to ignore her after this. CJ ceased to exist the second her name has announced to their school. Now she was just Gabriella -- the girl Troy had fallen for. CJ may have been the one to catch his attention, but the girl he was looking at now was the one that had kept it. She was the one that teased him and laughed with him. She was the one that helped him get an A in Biology -- by far his worst subject. She was the one he could talk to on the phone for hours and hours about anything and everything. She was _the one_.

Gabriella's voice began to soften as she sang the last few lines, her eyes boring into his own with desperation written clearly in their depths.

**It's not faith if, if you use your eyes  
If you use your eyes  
If you use your eyes**

****

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The song ended on a quiet chord, a complete contrast to the deafening applause that immediately followed. The Gems were awarded a standing ovation from the audience of teachers, parents and friends. Claire and Mandy bowed gratefully but Gabriella hadn't moved an inch. Troy was invisible to her now among the clapping crowd and inside she began to panic.

Had he left before the song was even over? Had she completely freaked him out?

The air in her chest seemed thick and heavy, her lungs pressing against her ribcage and making it hard to breathe. Tears clouded her vision, turning the scene before her into blurred splotches of color and light.

"Gabs..." Mandy said close to her ear, interrupting the downward spiral of her thoughts. "Look!"

Gabriella blinked the moisture from her eyes so she could effectively do what he friend advised. A gasp escaped her slightly chapped lips when she was met with a most welcome sight -- Troy Bolton climbing the steps to the stage. His stride was fast and full of purpose, directed straight at her.

"Troy," she breathed. The wave of relief that washed over her when she caught his small smile was almost incapacitating.

He stopped about a foot from her trembling body.

"I think we need to talk," he said.

Nodding mutely, Gabriella hastened to remove her guitar from around her neck. It was wrenched from her grasp by Claire -- Gabriella had failed to notice her join them -- who wore a knowing expression. She mouthed a 'thank you' to her friends before turning back to Troy, hardly able to believe he'd spoken to her of his own volition.

She let him lead the way backstage, weaving in and out of other performers who seemed to know better then to try and talk to Gabriella at that point in time. It didn't matter where he was leading them to, she didn't care as long as they sorted through the mess she'd put them in. Ultimately, they ended up seated side by side on the steps leading down to the cafeteria. Gabriella paid little attention to their surroundings; she could only concentrate on being so close to Troy. The cavernous room was quite dark, save for a couple of lights in the corner near the ceiling. Both teenagers were silent for the first few moments, looking at their hands or the floor -- anything to distract them from the tingles that ran through their bodies when their thighs would brush every so often.

"Should I start?" Gabriella questioned finally, after the anticipation had become too much.

Troy shrugged. "Do you have anything else to say?"

"I think I summed it up with the..." She paused, blushing as she remembered how forward she'd been. "Public proclaimation of love and all."

"I guess you did," Troy quietly agreed.

There was another minute of silence before Gabriella piped up again.

"So, this would be the part where you tell me what you're thinking."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Troy turn his head in her direction and she hesitantly returned the favor, finding his blue eyes in the darkness. Whether or not he was willing to make it work with her, Gabriella let herself be comforted by the fact that they had regained a measure of their usual vibrancy. She could see confusion deep within them as well, but at least that was better then the blankness that had been present for the past couple of weeks.

"I... I'm really proud of you," Troy told her. "You faced your biggest fear. For me. That means a lot to me because I know how terrified you must have been up there."

"I was. But then I just thought about how I was doing it for you," Gabriella replied with a smile playing on her lips. Her heart warmed when the gesture was returned, both of them flushing pink.

The mood was dampened slightly when Troy spoke again. "What you said about me to Mitch... it really hurt me. I know you didn't mean any of it and I know it was totally not in your nature to do something like that... I just can't understand why you would strive to be someone who talks about people they're supposed to care about behind their backs."

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I guess it was the combination of peer pressure and wanting Mitch to like me, although now I can't grasp why either of those are good reasons. Mitch isn't a horrible guy, but he definitely isn't the big deal everyone makes him out to be. I'd built him up to be this God-like figure and turned out to be seriously disappointed."

"I'm assuming he's not still your boyfriend?" Troy said, unable to keep the hopefulness he felt from sneaking into his voice.

Gabriella shook her head. "He was ever officially my boyfriend, at least in my mind. In any case -- I came clean and told him that I lied about you and about who I really was. Then I said we shouldn't see each other anymore because I couldn't be myself around him, not like I am when I'm with you. You should have seen his face. I don't think he'd been rejected by a girl before," she recalled with a tiny giggle.

Troy chuckled too in spite of himself. "Probably not."

"Look, Troy. I don't expect instant forgiveness. I just want to know if there's a chance," Gabriella breathed, her mirth now stripped away to reveal an aching vulnerability.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

How could he refuse that face? Gabriella had told Troy everything he'd wanted to hear almost since meeting her. She loved him... and after her stunning performance, she seemed ready to be nobody but herself. Now she was ready to be the Gabriella that he loved back. The only thing impeding their reunion was one thin strand of resentment and mistrust. Could Troy snip that strand in half and have what he wanted so badly?

Gazing into Gabriella's face, he found the answer straight away. The softness of her expression, the nervous set of her mouth and the sincerity in her eyes told him everything he need to know. In order for the relationship that they both wanted to have to work, he needed to have a little faith. Troy needed to believe in her again. This time he felt certain that she wouldn't let him down.

Without telling his body to do so, Troy found himself leaning into Gabriella. Her eyes widened as his intention registered inside her head. His movements were slow but sure, one hand extending upwards to tangle in her long dark locks.

It was pure magic when their lips finally met in a soft, sweet kiss. One brush of Gabriella's lips on his set every fibre of his being on fire. It was beyond anything Troy had imagined -- not just a physical connection but also a profound emotional connection. The two of them were linked on every possible level. The best part was, when they pulled apart after a long moment, Troy could easily tell that Gabriella had felt the exact same sensations.

"Wow..." she murmured, her eyes out of focus. "And why haven't we been doing that every second of everyday?"

"'Cause you wanted to run around with Mitch the Rock God. Remember?" Troy replied. He surprised himself with a teasing tone despite the previously touchy nature of the subject matter.

"I'm a freaking idiot," Gabriella had just enough time to say before she yanked him back in for a longer and deeper meeting of mouths, to which Troy had no qualms whatsoever.

After separating a second time, Troy took her hand that was closest to him and laced their fingers tightly together. He could feel her fingertips -- calloused from years of playing the guitar -- against the back of his hand, a tangible reminder of how special and talented the girl beside him was.

"Just so you know... I'm kind of in love with you too, rockstar," Troy finally revealed. It felt as though the weight of the world had just been removed from his muscled shoulders.

A breath left Gabriella, one she seemed to have been holding since she'd walked on stage that night. Her smile was a bright beam of light in the dark of the cafeteria and Troy could feel a similar expression stretching across his face.

"Do you want to go out sometime?" Gabriella asked him in a tiny voice.

Troy couldn't contain a bout of gentle laughter at the irony of the situation. Only a month ago he'd been agonizing over how to ask _her_ out.

"Are you asking me out on a date, Miss Montez?" he questioned cheekily, unable to resist toying with her just a smidgen.

Shyly, she replied, "Yes... are you accepting?"

"I'd love to," Troy said as he grinned from ear to ear.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Oh lookie! It's the lovebirds," Mandy called out upon spotting Troy and Gabriella strolling into the school auditorium, hand in hand.

Claire beamed at the pair as she asked, "Everything copacetic?"

Troy and Gabriella exchanged knowing glances, unconsciously squeezing each other's hands.

"Everything's perfect," Gabriella assured them.

"That's what I like to hear," she replied.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**AN: OH EM EFF GEE. I'm so tired right now but I figured I might as well post this and get it done with even though its like four am. I've been switching up between writing and watching episodes of Ghost Whisperer on DVD. I'm totally addicted to that show right now. Every freaking episode makes me bawl like a baby... and I totally wanna marry Jennifer Love Hewitt's husband... but I digress. To make a long story short, I'm slightly loopy at the moment and cannot be held liable for any blatant spelling or grammatical errors.**

**This is the last real chapter of _All of the Above_****, peeps! There's only the epilogue left now. I'm sort of sad but also a bit relieved. Its taken me over a year to finish this and its not even twenty chapters! I need to get a new work ethic. In any case, I just wanted to let you guys know how grateful I am to you for sticking with me all this time. Thanks so much for all the reviews and thank you even if you read it but were too lazy to review... cause I've done that once or twice, lol.**

**Oh, btw, the song I used in this chapter was "Miracle" by Paramore. It just seemed to fit so perfectly. I hope it lived up to the hype!**

**And as a final note -- for something fun involving fanfiction, head on over to _zaangels dot co_****_m_**** and check out the Secret Santa Fanfic Exchange being held by the moderators over on the site forum. It's going to be a blast but you've got to hurry up and register! **


	17. Wish You Well

**TITLE:** All of the Above (Epilogue)  
**AUTHOR:** Jessa  
**RATING / GENRE:** T / Romance, Drama  
**FANDOM / PAIRING:** High School Musical / Troy&Gabriella, Gabriella&OC  
**SUMMARY:** Troy suddenly starts showing interest in a fellow Wildcat when he sees her outside the classroom.  
**DISCLAIMER:** Troy, Gabriella and anything else East Highish is (c) Disney.

* * *

Gabriella was putting the finishing touches on her eye make-up when she heard her doorbell ring. The sound almost caused her to ruin the meticulously applied liner that swept from the inner corner of her eye to her temple. It wasn't that the arrival of her boyfriend was unexpected, however all day anticipation had been building within her petite form, forming a tightly coiled ball of energy that snapped at anything resembling the sound of the door.

"Gabi! Troy is here!" her mother called over the stairs, sounding nearly as excited as her daughter felt.

Taking a calming breath, Gabriella replied, "I'll be down in a second!"

There was a mad flurry of activity from the brunette, fluttering about the room as she gathered her lip gloss, a compact and her cell phone together and snapped it all shut inside a small golden clutch purse. One more glance in the full length mirror hanging on her closet door and Gabriella felt she was ready as she'd ever be to attend her senior prom.

In a clichéd manner, she slowly made her way down the stairs leading to the front hall. Both Troy and Eva Montez's eyes were trained on her as she made her descent, her mother on the verge of proud tears which caused Gabriella to giggle quietly.

"Hey rockstar," Troy breathed, snagging her attention as he so often did without trying.

Airflow to her lungs hitched at the expression on his face. His cobalt eyes brightened as though he was gazing up at the world, a blinding grin pulling up the corners of his mouth. Without hesitation, his hand extended to grasp hers and help her down the last few steps.

Neither of them made note of the flash of Mrs. Montez's camera, too caught up in each other to particularly care about anything else.

"You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen..." Troy said, resulting in an endearing blush to color Gabriella's cheeks. "And that's just on a normal day. I pity every single girl who's going to be there tonight."

"Troy!" she exclaimed in weak reprimand.

"Its true!" he insisted, his grin not ceasing for a second.

Gabriella leaned up to place a 'mom-friendly' kiss on his inviting lips.

"You insanely handsome devil," she whispered.

The theme of their prom, as decided on by a vote, was a costume ball. The senior class -- despite an uproar from Sharpay Evans and her groupies -- had wanted something more interesting than the usual tux and gown scenario to ensure that the night would be a memorable one. The idea of wearing costumes was embraced by most pending graduates as the perfect way to achieve this goal.

Troy was looking more drool worthy than normal in his rented costume, the base of which was black dress pants and a tightly woven chain mail shirt that clung to the defined muscles of his chest. Metal shoulder plates rested on top of the shirt, truly fitting of a valiant knight about to go into battle. The sword that hung from his hip had been the costume's main selling point; it made Gabriella nervous, how realistic it looked. The illusion Troy presented of a Medieval warrior was slightly hindered by the black converse on his feet -- allowed by his mother only because he claimed he wouldn't be able to dance otherwise -- and the fact that his hair was styled into a tousled faux-hawk.

"M'lady," he said, bowing so he could kiss Gabriella's hand like a true gentleman, before he presented her with a simple corsage crafted from a single white lily and some ribbon. Her eyes sparkled as he slipped it on her wrist.

Gabriella laughed while she pinned his matching boutonniere to the leather hilt of his sword, both of them agreeing that it would look stupid pinned to his lapel-less metal shirt.

Mrs. Montez insisted that they pose for pictures, gushing incessantly between flashes.

"Oh, you two look so perfect! Gabi, honey, you look gorgeous!"

Thoroughly embarrassed, Gabriella grumbled incoherently from her position in Troy's arms.

Her outfit was that of an ancient Egyptian princess. An ivory silk dress with a v-neck that ended just below her bust hugged her body. A band of gold fabric wrapped around her torso from the bottom of the neckline to her belly button. Hanging from the golden material were waves of more ivory silk that ran smoothly down her hips and legs, pooling around her feet where strappy golden heels made her only a few inches shorter than her boyfriend. Gabriella's ebony waves had been painstakingly straightened, shimmering in the light each time she moved, so they now fell in between her shoulder blades, close to her lower back. Jewelery was kept simple -- a golden headband spanning her forehead like an ancient crown while a golden snake slithered around her upper arm. A chunky necklace -- also gold -- rested just below her collarbone with a round faux sapphire stone attached to it. Shimmery powder had been dusted on every inch of exposed skin, matching the glimmering nude gloss on her lips. The black eyeliner that surrounded her eyes, spanning outwards to create a cat-like shape, stole the focus of her face. She'd purposely kept the rest of her make-up relatively modest to create a dramatic effect.

"Okay, mom. That's enough! We've got to go or we'll miss the prom," Gabriella said, eager to escape the camera.

Eva sniffed bravely. "Okay, sweetie. Have fun. Both of you."

After a huge hug had been bestowed upon both of them, they were finally out the door.

"Tell your mother I'll make her a disc of these pictures, Troy!"

Troy's face paled at the prospect of his mother blubbering over the pictures, but he waved politely back towards the house to indicate he'd heard.

"Oh God! I thought she'd never let us leave!" Gabriella exhaled once Troy had assisted her up into the familiar cab of his truck and climbed behind the wheel on the other side.

He laughed, an utterly lighthearted sound. "Let's make a quick getaway," he joked, pulling away from the curb with a screech of tires.

* * *

The East High gym was rocking, a constant pulse of music flowing through the air, mingling with the shouts and hollers of Troy and Gabriella's classmates and friends.

"Tay!" Gabriella squealed upon spotting her best friend a few feet from the door.

Taylor spun swiftly around, unintentionally showing off the full effect of her costume. A simple but gorgeous black dress skimmed her curves all the way down to the floor. It was sleeveless, the v of the neckline meeting in the center of her bust, showing a tantalizing amount of cleavage that was sure to drive her date nuts. On her head sat a pair of black sequined cat ears which were complimented by black whiskers drawn on her smooth cheeks and black liner quite similar to Gabriella's around her eyes.

Gabriella couldn't help but gasp at the sight, darting over to embrace her friend.

"Your costume is perfect!" she exclaimed.

Taylor pulled back, looking her up and down.

"Almost as perfect as yours, sister! I don't even want to know what sort of thoughts are racing through Troy's mind right now," she giggled, her eyes glittering mischievously.

"Tay!" Gabriella admonished, blushing vigorously.

Her friend merely smiled.

Close by, a far less showy and squeeful exchange was taking place. Troy and Chad were partaking in their special handshake, congratulating one another on finally making it to this point in their high school careers. Although, Chad had something else to be congratulated for as well.

"I still can't believe you got up the nerve to ask her, man. Good job," Troy said as he patted Chad on the shoulder.

The boy with the crazy hair -- who had taken full advantage of the costume theme and had come dressed as Godzilla, much to his date's dismay -- grinned widely.

"If all goes well tonight, hopefully we'll be going out a lot more," he replied.

Troy chuckled.

"I think if she's not freaking out about you wearing that costume to her prom, it's quite likely."

"Naw, man. Taylor's cool," Chad said with an underlying giddiness.

It still amazed Troy that Chad had managed to stay focused on one girl for such a long period of time. Lucky him -- that girl also happened to be his girlfriend's best friend.

"Have you seen Claire or Mandy yet?" Troy heard Gabriella ask Taylor. "They were supposed to meet me here."

"I think they were up on stage, making sure no one had messed around with their equipment since you guys set it up," Taylor informed her.

Gabriella nodded and said, "Thanks, Tay. I should probably go find them. I can't wait to see their costumes! They wouldn't tell me what they were coming as."

"I'll help you find them," Troy murmured near her ear as he left Chad to slip an arm around her slim waist.

His girlfriend turned slightly in his grasp to kiss his cheek while Taylor and Chad looked on, both amused.

Since that fateful night of the Talent Show, Troy and Gabriella had been inseparable. They'd decided, as a pair, to leave the past in the past and that's what they'd done. Chad had never seen his best friend happier and all of Gabriella's friends had to admit the same.

Hand in hand, the couple made their way around the dance floor to the stage that had been erected at the far end of the gym. Near the back of the platform, a DJ surrounded by huge speakers was spinning discs on a turntable to get the evening going. In the space in front of him, the Neon Gems' instruments were already set up and waiting to be used.

After the great unveiling of Gabriella's musical talents, her band had started taking gigs in Albuquerque as well as Sunnydale. Students from East High flocked to the all ages clubs they booked to hear them play. As soon as the date for prom had been announced, Gabriella was approached by the prom committee president -- none other than over-achiever Katie Lee -- and had been begged to perform for at least a portion of the evening. Mandy and Claire had been quick to talk her into it once they'd been informed, claiming it was an excellent way for her to end her last school year with a bang. For once, she hadn't felt particularly inclined to argue.

"There they are!" Troy exclaimed after a moment, pointing to the steps near the makeshift stage.

Both girls were sprawled comfortably on the small set of stairs, biding their time until they were meant to go on. Gabriella's eyes brows furrowed when she saw them because they didn't appear to be wearing any sort of recognizable costumes.

Troy and Gabriella approached them at a leisurely pace. Once their arrival had been noted, both girls sprang to life, immediately flocking towards Gabriella and wrapping their arms around her.

"God, babe! You look fantastic!" Claire raved.

Mandy enthusiastically agreed. "You do! I don't know how you're keeping your hands off her, Jock Boy!"

Both the noble knight and the Egyptian princess blushed furiously at yet another sexual innuendo helpfully provided by one of their friends.

"Although," Mandy continued. "I suppose the same could be said in reference to your fine self."

Gabriella rolled her eyes in amusement and chose that point in time to steer the embarrassing conversation elsewhere.

"I see you guys put a lot of hard work into your costumes," she remarked, her sarcasm evident.

"What are you guys supposed to be anyways?" Troy added.

Claire and Mandy exchanged a sort of smirk that made anyone not on the receiving end of it feel as though they'd been left out of a joke. Both girls simultaneously indicated to their chests where they'd each stuck _Hello my name is_ name tags. Troy and Gabriella had obviously missed them upon first glance.

The couple read the tags and couldn't stop the bursts of laughter that sprung from their mouths. Claire's name tag, after she pushed her long hair out of the way for a better view, said _Hello my name is: God_, while Mandy's read _Hello my name is: Satan_. It was then that Gabriella noticed that they'd attempted to look the parts -- Claire in a flowing white dress and Mandy rocking red lipstick and a sexy red dress.

"Don't think much of themselves, do they?" Gabriella quipped to Troy. He continued to beam his uneven but oh-so-heavenly smile at her.

"Do you wish to anger us all powerful beings?" Mandy demanded, eyebrows arched in a brilliant impression of an evil expression.

"Oh, heavens forefend!"

Claire rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"I'll consider it," she drawled.

This caused all four of them to laugh aloud, only to have the humorous moment broken up seconds later by the panicked entrance of Katie Lee, closely followed by Sharpay Evans. Katie seemed to be tuning out the screeching voice of Sharpay -- an honorable feat -- who was still complaining about the dress code for the evening.

"Okay, girls. You can go on whenever you like!" she told the Gems. Her tone indicated that she'd appreciate it if they got their butts on stage pronto.

Mandy shrugged in a blasé manner.

"I'm ready if you guys are."

Gabriella nodded and turned towards Troy, who wasted no time leaning into her to create an intimate moment amidst the chaos. Their foreheads rested together, eyes locking.

"Wish me luck," she whispered.

He shook his head minutely. "You won't need it, rockstar."

Their lips automatically gravitated towards each other, meeting in a soft but deep kiss.

"I want to see you out there dancing, Wildcat!" she commanded with a grin once they separated. Mandy took the opportunity to grab her arm before they could start smooching again, as they were prone to doing.

"Come on you," she said, yanking her from her boyfriend's arms.

Gabriella blew Troy one last kiss, that he happily caught, before she surrendered to her friend's wishes. Claire couldn't help but pause to observe the goofy grin on the basketball star's face, giggling at the shimmery lip gloss smeared around his mouth.

"Ummm, Jock Boy?" she said, waving a hand in front of his face to gain his fixed attention. "You might wanna…" She mimed wiping off her mouth so he'd get the hint.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, his cheeks flushing whilst he took her advice. "Thanks."

"Just looking out for you!" she called as she walked towards the stage.

* * *

Gabriella had come so far in the past six months.

Looking back, she never would have thought she'd be where she was -- standing in front of a microphone at her senior prom, having arrived there with the most popular boy in school who happened to not only be her boyfriend but the most caring, loving guy a girl could ask to be with.

It was a surreal moment for her. Not one flicker of the stage fright she'd once been so familiar with came back to haunt her. Gabriella stood at the front of that stage, surrounded by an aura of confidence that made her shine like a true rockstar. She could see her friends, her classmates and Troy smiling up at her from the crowd and she couldn't help but smile widely in response. She was filled with the overwhelming sensation of belonging -- the stage was her home and she was exactly where she was meant to be.

It had taken one boy to show her that, and it definitely wasn't the one she'd expected. Troy had given that wonderful feeling to her and she had so much to thank him for.

But first there was something to get off her chest.

"Hey, class of 2009! I hope everyone is having an amazing night! The prom committee has done such a great job here." Gabriella paused to let everyone contribute a yell or scream in the affirmative. "As some of you know, we're the Neon Gems," she said, indicating to herself and her band mates. "And we're going to perform a few songs for you tonight!"

The audience went wild, Troy -- of course -- hollering the loudest, closely followed by Taylor and Chad.

"The first song we're going to do is one that I wrote a few months ago and I thought it would be the perfect one to start out with because it sort of represents a huge turning point in my life -- one I'm definitely ready to let go of. It's called _'I Wish You Well'_ and it's for a guy that I should thank because he made me realize that everything I could ever want was right in front of me."

Gabriella shared a loaded glance with her boyfriend, who was confused yet intrigued. _'I Wish You Well'_ was one of the only songs she'd written that he had yet to hear. He was used to being her songwriting guinea pig but she'd saved this particular song for a special occasion, deciding it was perfect to play at a ceremony that represented the end of childhood and the beginning of the rest of her life.

With a nod to Claire, the intro to the song started strong. Gabriella came in right on time for the first verse, her voice melding with the instruments as naturally as ever.

**I wish you well  
Couldn't you tell  
After all these years  
I wish you love  
And life in a world  
That you're dreaming of  
I wish you well  
I wish you love, oh  
I wish myself  
All of the above**

The song had been written for Mitch Heron, whom Gabriella had not seen much of since she dumped him. She had the feeling that he was avoiding her -- the one girl who had given him the brush off -- but it really didn't matter. The song was her way of letting everything to do with Mitch go.

**What made me think  
That I could survive  
All the wear and tear?  
It's not my thing  
To stand here and pose  
For some William Tell  
I wish you well  
I wish you love, oh  
I wish myself  
All of the above**

It still weighed on her conscience sometimes, the way she'd treated Troy during her brief stint as a Rock God's girlfriend. No matter how many ways he tried to convince her he was over it, Troy knew it ate away at her on occasion. Sometimes she felt like she didn't deserve to have someone so fantastic to call her own.

Gabriella still wondered what on Earth had possessed her to completely deny her nature and let herself buckle under the pressure to be what Mitch wanted. It wasn't her; Gabriella Montez didn't talk about people behind their backs. Troy did all he could to make her believe that it was in the past, they'd moved on from it and come out with something amazing.

**If there was a better time  
I could not find it  
It's mine not yours  
And yours not mine  
And we couldn't hide it  
Don't take me on  
A ride with you  
It's a roller coaster  
The only time I look at you  
Is on a rock and roll poster  
I wish you well**

As Gabriella belted out the lyrics from the stage of her senior prom, she could only look to the future that had always seemed bright but now seemed almost blinding. When she'd said that she should thank Mitch, she really meant it. Because of him, she'd grown up. His attitude made her realize what was really important in life and that lesson meant the world to her.

She wished Mitch no harm because what had happened between them was her own fault. They weren't compatible, regardless of the fact that she'd tried to make them so. Mitch was just Mitch while Gabriella tried to be CJ, the puffed up lead singer of a rock band. There were no hard feelings -- the whole experience had taught her once and for all to be herself and not settle for anything less. The people that liked her for _her_ were the only ones she needed to concern herself with.

**Where are you now?  
Couldn't you see through  
The sweat and tears?  
I took my bow  
While you confirmed  
All my saddest fears  
I wish you well  
I wish you love, oh  
I wish myself  
The world I dream of  
I wish you well  
I wish you love, oh  
I wish myself  
All of the above  
All of the above  
All of the above  
All of the above**

Looking down at Troy, Gabriella made certain that there was no doubt in his mind -- he was the 'all of the above' she was singing about. His blue eyes shone with limitless love and emotion meant only for her and she knew he understood.

* * *

Twenty minutes of showtime followed by a ten minute encore later, Gabriella was finally reunited with her boyfriend on the gym floor. He immediately gathered her into his arms, having missed her even when she was right in front of him on stage.

"You never fail to amaze me, rockstar," he told her.

She kissed him softly. "I could say the same to you."

Smiling, he replied, "Every time I see you up there, I fall more in love with you."

"The only reason I can get up there at all is because of you. Thank you," she whispered, meaning it in every way possible.

Troy simply grinned at her, needing nothing more in that moment than to just be with his girl. A moment later, he slipped his hand around hers and began pulling her towards the middle of the gym where couples were beginning to gather as the opening strains of _'Bubbly'_ by Colbie Callait echoed throughout the room. The overhead lights were dimmed to add to the atmosphere; fairy lights that the prom committee had wrapped around the walls and tables were providing a romantic glow. Troy and Gabriella's arms instinctively wrapped around each other as they started to sway to the simple yet beautiful melody. The pair only had eyes for each other.

"I have something for you," Gabriella murmured, removing a hand from his shoulders so she could run it along his cheek.

"Really?" Troy asked, his tone curious even though his expression remained dazed and happy.

She giggled lightly and nodded. Clutched in the hand that she'd skillfully kept out of his reach was something she'd been meaning to give him for a while -- she just hadn't found the right time to do so. The right time had finally come.

Gabriella was oddly nervous as she stepped back from his warm body so she could press it into one of his hands. She couldn't help looking anywhere but at his face while he got his first look at the gift.

"Its not very manly or anything so I understand if you don't want to wear it but I... I wanted you to have it."

"Gabriella..." he trailed off in disbelief, unable to articulate what her gesture meant to him.

Cradled safely in Troy's palm was Gabriella's lucky silver pick -- the very one he'd returned to her when they'd met for the first time -- attached to a thick black string so he could wear it around his neck if he so desired. She allowed herself to glance at him shyly through her lashes and was met with a piercing blue gaze. Without pause, he slipped it over his head.

"Thank you, rockstar," he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "I love you."

Gabriella's full lips parted into a beaming smile as she leaned back in his embrace. Their mouths met with profound tenderness, engaging in a kiss that showed their feelings almost too clearly for those around them. But everyone else didn't matter to Troy and Gabriella -- they could only concern themselves with allowing their hearts to fill to the point of nearly bursting while tingles erupted through every nerve ending in their bodies. The sensation was familiar but impossible to grow tired of. If anything the couple found themselves craving it more and more with time. Eventually they separated, comforted by the knowledge that it wouldn't be long before another kiss would be shared.

"I love you too."

Finally it felt as though Troy and Gabriella had come full circle and her giving him the pick was her way of expressing that. Neither of them knew exactly what would happen beyond high school -- maybe Gabriella would become a famous musician or a successful lawyer and maybe Troy would join the NBA like everyone believed he was going to. Maybe their lives would unfold in an entirely surprising fashion; there was no way to know for sure. All either of them knew was that regardless of what road they ended up taking, they'd take it side by side.

**  
I wish you well  
I wish you love, oh  
I wish myself  
All of the above  
All of the above  
All of the above  
All of the above**

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Holy eff, holy eff, HOLY EFF. Did I just complete a full length story? I'm pretty sure I did... its a MIRACLEEE!! Its been a long time coming, that's for damn sure. I know I made you wait like three months for this epilogue which is kind of sad... but just remember that I'm the one that brought the faux-hawk backkk! OH! BTW, some of you might have picked up on this but when I imagined up Troy's costume it was heavily inspired by Leo's knight costume in Romeo + Juliet. HOT.

Anywho, this story has come a long way from where it was when it was originally conceived in my brain two summers ago but I'm proud of how it turned out and I can only hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. You've all been so awesome with your reading and reviewing, nevermind the fact that I am seriously the worst person for updating in THE WORLD. **Thank you from the bottom of my heart everyone who has ever read even a word of this fic!**

A few shoutouts -- Thanks to my BFFL, **Steffie**, because even though she hates HSM (slash secretly luuurvs it!) she still read and reviewed my story cause she loves me! Thanks, as always, to **Kylz** for letting me bounce millions of stupid ideas off of her and listening to my whining all the time. You are awesome, my girlie! And finally, thanks to **the girls at MVF** for keeping me in high spirits and squeeing over HSM/Zanessa related things with me. Love you alllll!


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